


Forget to Forgive

by Missintroverted



Series: The Misadventures of Ricki Sanchez [3]
Category: Gravity Falls, Rick and Morty
Genre: Alternate Universe, Angst with a Happy Ending, Blood and Violence, Dysfunctional Family, F/M, Family Bonding, Female Rick Sanchez, Flashbacks, Gratuitous Swearing, I Still Cannot Believe I Have To Make Those Tags, It Gets Worse Before It Gets Better, Let Ford Pines Say Fuck, Mabel Pines is Determined to Fix This Weird Family Even if She Has to Do it Herself, Mental Health Issues, Mild Sexual Content, No Incest, No Pedophilia, Pansexual Character, Post-Canon, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Protective Ford Pines, Teenage Dipper Pines and Mabel Pines, The Power Of Mabel, Trans Rick Sanchez, rickford - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-09-03
Updated: 2021-01-13
Packaged: 2021-03-06 21:27:01
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 4
Words: 21,296
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26245639
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Missintroverted/pseuds/Missintroverted
Summary: Months after being kicked out of the Smith family household, Ricki Sanchez finally has the chance to make things right. All she has to do is go to one family therapy session, and she's golden.Or she would've been, had she not been literally pulled into the small town of Gravity Falls, where things quickly get complicated. For one thing, she finds out that her kinda-not-really ex, Stanford Pines, is alive. Not only that, he's back in his home dimension, reunited with his brother, a great-uncle, and apparently just as surprised to see Ricki. And just before she can even begin to process this new development, something erases the memories of her family and the formula for her portal gun. Oh, and it's also trying to use her to destroy Gravity Falls and maybe the world as they know it.Now she's trapped with her grandkids and no memories of them, no way home, and a man who may or may have not been the lost love of her life. Talk about awkward.It's an epic crossover adventure, broh!
Relationships: Ford Pines/Rick Sanchez (Rick and Morty)
Series: The Misadventures of Ricki Sanchez [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1782376
Comments: 18
Kudos: 16





	1. Old News

**Author's Note:**

> Here we are the fic I've been planning since I binged-watched Gravity Falls while writing "Revenge of the Mortysnatcher"! You can read this fic without it, but it definitely adds to the experience (and I kinda also worked hard on it so you should totally read it anyway). 
> 
> This fic is also post-Gravity Falls finale, so if you haven't watched GF, be warned--there be spoilers. It also helps if you've watched some Rick and Morty, but this AU is honestly distant enough from canon that you don't have to. (I know the tag says "Rick Sanchez" but I honestly do not know how to tag "Female Rick Sanchez who is Trans and Changed her Name" so I apologize for the confusion and the mention of her deadname).

The floating mushroom caps of this planet bounced along overhead as Ricki Sanchez finished tying up the last of the bandits. The first sun had disappeared beyond the horizon, leaving just enough light for Ricki to see their disgruntled, dirt-caked faces. One of them spat at her direction, only for the offending spit to fizzle on her helmet. She didn’t even blink.

One of the bandits spoke in a language that, to human ears, sounded like somebody gargling water. Luckily, the inside of Ricki’s helmet translated everything perfectly, so she could read all of their colorful and admittedly impressive insults.

“We’ll find you, you know,” said a humanoid toad-fish thing with gnarled yellow teeth. “This brigade will not rest until we find who you are, and who you work for! Every one of us shall not rest until this land is soaked with your blood—”

Ricki walked around, her boots making imprints in the damp moss. She look forward to getting off this place; the smell of bog and blood would stick to her suit for the next hour. The toad thing went on while she checked the area, making sure she didn’t miss anything. She knew she hadn’t, not with her new scanners, but it never hurt to be certain. She pressed a button on her watch.

Loud explosions shot off in the distance. Various flying creatures flew away overhead.

“That should be t-the last of your signals jammers. Also, there were only, like, twenty of you, s-so I really doubt that you’re brigade will last the next few weeks, b-but you’re always welcome to try.”

They couldn’t understand her, of course, but she felt it was always nice to voice out her thoughts, now that she didn’t have anybody else to share them with. With the click of a button, a flare shot up into the sky, bursting into bright red flames.

It only took a few moments for the ship to arrive. The large craft hovered towards her, over the marshes, making a slow yet steady descent in front of her. A stiff-shouldered humanoid creature with six eyes and large, fanning gills on its back and between its long, spindly fingers emerged. It was the general of this side of the country's militia. Ricki forgot their name--it was hard to pronounce with human lips and vocal cords, even with her translator, and it's not like it mattered anyway. 

The general walked up to Ricki with their escorts, surveying the area with what Ricki assumed was satisfaction. They grunted, gesturing towards the tied-up bandits. Immediately some of the soldiers went over to them.

“Is that all of the bandits?” they said in English.

“Most of them, but the others won’t get far without their supplies. Anyway, the deal was the leaders, and,” Ricki gestured to the tied-up quartet, “…they’re here, alive. It’s not my problem what happens here afterwards.”

Two of its eyes narrowed at her. “Very well, Phantom. You have filled your end of the contract. Here is your reward.”

A heavy sack was thrown in front of her. She picked it up, weighing it with one hand. Peeking inside, she saw the sleek, milky-white stones. Satisfied, she closed it and put it in her side pocket. “T-thanks. I’ll be, uh. Going. B-by the way, my scanners showed three of them running towards the East. Go nuts.”

“Wait.”

Ricki cocked her head, aware that any facial expression she’d usually use to show interest was hidden behind the helmet.

“There is a target that has eluded us for the past twenty years. Our governor said they would pay handsomely if you were to retrieve them. They broke into our weapons facility and stole various prototypes and just…vanished into thin air.”

The creature took out a small projector and displayed a wanted poster. Ricki took a long, hard look at it. Then she turned away. “Nope, sorry. Not interested, especially if it was that long ago. Trail’s probably gone cold.”

The general didn't have much going on in terms of facial expression, but Ricki could taste the doubt a mile away. If they did have an issue with it, however, they didn't say anything. Instead, they closed the projection and handed it to another soldier. "You were a part of the Federation Rebellion, yes?"

Ricki tensed her jaw, thankful for the helmet covering her face. "W-what if I was?"

They didn’t have a mouth, but Ricki could feel its frown. "I am sorry for what happened. To you and your comrades. Your efforts, they--"

"If you don't mind," she said, turning around. "I've got somewhere to be."

They took the hint. “We thank you for your contribution then. May the Axolotl watch over you.”

She raised a hand as she walked away, back turned to them. “Sure.”

Ricki took out her sleek, white portal gun. She shot it on front of her, a swirl of greens forming a single disk just big enough for her to walk through. It closed behind her.

Her butt landed on the cushy seat of the inside of her car. Her vehicle had been parked in the middle of an almost uninhabited part of the galaxy, surrounded by millions of stars in an endless expanse of black. To some, it would be unnerving to be there, in such an empty stretch of space. For Ricki, however, it was a comfort to be able to linger in this kind of silence.

She tossed the bag in the backseat, stretching her arms. She finally peeled off the helmet, her thin teal locks spilling around her face. Sighing, she lay on the now reclined seat, staring up at the view through the glass dome of her car.

“You never knew h-how to stay out of trouble, huh? N-not that I can talk…”

She opened her glove department, fishing through it until she found the same wanted poster her contractors had shown her. A human man stared back at her. He had thick, bushy eyebrows, with piercing brown eyes that glared defiantly at her, a cleft chin, and an overall handsome face, even with the scowl he had. 

She never told him that. She never got to tell him a lot of things.

“Guess i-it all ended up being for nothing for you, h-huh? That’s another thing we have i-in common, I guess.”

Nobody answered, not that she’d expected anybody to.

The sudden chirp of the console made her jump in her seat. She scolded herself; she’d expected it, after all. It was about that time of the week. Tapping her fingers on a button, Ricki projected a hologram in from of her. Two faces were crammed together on the screen, one big-eyed and anxious, and another more guarded, a little less vulnerable but just as curious. Morty and Summer were watching Ricki as if afraid she’d disappear if they took their eyes off her.

Ricki raised the side of her unibrow. “Hey, kids. Whassup?”

“H-hey, Ricki,” said Morty, smiling. “J-just, checking up on you.”

Ricki rolled her eyes. “Y-you realize that I’m not gonna explode or something j-just because you kids aren’t here, right?”

“It’s not our fault you always look like a corpse every time we see you,” said Summer, frowning into the camera. She crossed her arms over her chest. “Have you been eating?”

Ricki shrugged scratching her nose. “Enough.”

Morty fidgeted. “Aw, geez, Ricki, d-don’t tell me you’re not cooking for yourself.”

“I’ve been busy, Morty.” She lay back in her seat stretching. “Just doing some bounty hunting and shit.”

“Grandma, I thought you were laying low,” said Summer.

“Relax, Summer. I-I made an alias, all that jazz, a-and I’m not getting mixed up with the Federation. It’d be too much of a pain in the ass.” She softened, noticing their anxious stares. “I’m fine. R-really.”

“H-how’s the arm?” said Morty, rubbing his own. “I-it isn’t giving you any trouble, or anything?”

Ricki stared down at her right arm. The sleek metallic hand rested on her lap, in view of the camera. She subconsciously flexed it, raising it towards them. The rest of it was hidden in her long sleeve, extending all the way to the shoulder, where it connected to the rest of her flesh-and-bone body.

It was strange to watch a limb move at the same speed as her normal arm, to move as if nothing, and not feel a damn thing. Not the feel of her hand on the leather seat, not the fabric of her pants, the brush of her lab coat on her hands. She underestimated how much she’d miss being able to feel things on the tips of her fingers, the heat of the Sun on her palms, the cool water running through her skin…sure, she had her other arm, but so much was missing now, and her brain would still get confused, wonder what was wrong until the memory of what happened settled in and reminded her.

Wow, when the fuck did she start waxing poetic about shit?

“Work in progress,” she said, staring at it. “Sometimes my reaction time is slower than it should be. I-I’m still giving it a few tweaks. It’s at least better than the mass-produced bullshit they sold at the Citadel.”

“D-d-does it still, y’know. Hurt?” Morty cast his eyes downwards, shoulders slumped.

Summer anxiously waited for Ricki’s answer, her expression betraying her curiosity.

“I-I still gotta use the serum, but that’s not a-all the arm. I-It’s just what happens when you change your physical body permanently and get your head blown off it o-only a few months afterwards.” The lingering effects of the nerve-damaging poison played a part in that, but she felt that went unsaid.

“If you’re sure,” said Morty.

“Is that all y-you two called me for?” Ricki didn’t mean for it to come out so harshly, but she also didn’t want to keep having them fret over her every time they called. “Thought you kids wanted to know more stuff about my past or-or whatever.”

“You remember that the appointment with Dr. Wong is today, right?” said Summer. “You know what Mom said.”

“I _know_ , Summer. I-I already told you I’m not going to miss it. I even programmed my portal gun to open a portal to you two. I-if I’m running late, you can drag my ass over.”

“W-we just, we really want to see you again,” said Morty, quietly. “A-and Mom said we could if you come to the therapy session, and I know how you feel about therapy.”

“Hey, I’ve been going to my sessions, haven’t I?” She had, more to her surprise than anybody else’s. Ricki still hated it, going to listen to another person tell her about her own feelings for an hour, but it wasn’t a complete waste of her time, at least. Wong was smart, and it was refreshing to talk to a therapist that didn’t have their head up their ass. Sometimes Ricki even found herself agreeing with the shit she said.

“That’s true,” said Morty, sounding like he was convincing himself more than anything.

“See? There, nothing to worry about. L-let’s change the subject already.”

“Okay,” said Morty, perking up a bit. “S-so, I, uh, actually talked to Jessica today and, w-we’re actually going t-to see a movie sometime. We, uh, haven’t picked a date yet, b-but she actually seemed like she wanted to go!”

The corner of Ricki’s mouth curled up into a smile. She ignored the immediate urge to tease her grandson for his high school crush. It was an intense crush, and a little creepy at times considering that he had a photo of her in his locker, but ultimately it was harmless enough that Ricki hadn’t felt the need to intervene.

“You finally manned up, eh? I-I have to say, I’m impressed.”

Summer rolled her eyes behind Morty. “Yeah, he wouldn’t shut up about it the entire fucking day. Like, at least Morty isn’t as much as a pathetic simp as I thought.”

Morty scowled at his sister, but it was half-hearted at best. It didn’t put a damper on his mood. “Y-you’re just jealous because you got stood up by Brad.”

Summer glared at him with an intensity Ricki felt proud of. “Whatever. He wasn’t worth it anyway, I heard he cheated on his last girlfriend.”

“He wasn’t then,” said Ricki. “Boys in high school are a waste of your time, anyway. They’re too busy playing with their dicks to use their brains.”

“I’m right here,” said Morty, deadpan.

Ricki made a dismissive gesture. “ _Obviously_ , I-I expect you to be the exception Morty.”

Morty beamed at the praise.

“So, y-you been doing alright with your meds and everything?” Ricki said it as casually as she could, hoping to address the subject as delicately as possible.

Judging by Morty’s nervous fidgeting, she hadn’t been successful.

Summer cleared her throat. “It’s going mostly well. Morty has been having less panic attacks. But they found out that he has something else too.”

Ricki raised an eyebrow. “What’s wrong?”

“I have ADHD,” said Morty. He couldn’t look into Ricki’s eyes, instead focusing on something off screen.

Ricki pursed her lips then smacked them with a loud _pop_. “So?”

Morty’s head shot up. “You’re not…going to s-say anything?”

“Like what?”

Summer sighed. “I told you she wasn’t gonna care.”

“Well, my teachers say that it makes sense, since, y’know, I’m so bad at—”

“Okay,” said Ricki, holding up her metallic hand. “L-let me stop you right there, Morty. I’ve had that shit forever. I-if your teachers don’t know how to handle that, th-that’s on them. The American education system is shit, anyway. I-I didn’t even finish high school. Mostly because I ran away from my parents. But also because of that shit.”

“You ran away from home as a teen?” said Summer. She leaned in towards the projection. “You never told us that. And don’t say “It never came up”, grandma, because that’s what you say about everything.”

“It’s not a nice thing to think about,” said Ricki. “My parents were assholes and transphobes, so I left. Not much to that.”

“Goddamn, i-is there anything about your past that _isn’t_ tragic?” said Morty.

Ricki shrugged. “Eh, my _Flesh Curtain_ days were pretty neat, so there’s that.”

“You mean that shitty band that made awful alien punk music?” said Summer, smirking.

“I-I’ll have you know, Summer, we were galaxy-wide famous, at least until the Federation tried to take over Birdperson’s home planet and we became wanted “terrorists”.” Ricki made air quotes with her fingers.

“Hey, R-Ricki, what’s that?”

Morty pointed at something through the screen. It took Ricki a long moment to realize that she had the poster poking from the side of her lab coat pocket. In her rush to hide it, she hadn’t given it a second glance. A rookie mistake, honestly. She shoved it back inside, coughing. “I-it’s nothing.”

“ _Grandma_ ,” said Summer.

Ricki groaned. “C-can’t we put a cap on having me talk about my past for today? I-I feel like we’re getting into way too much exposition here.”

“You said we could ask whatever we wanted.” Summer crossed her arms, waiting. She had the Sanchez family scowl, the one that promised no small amount of trouble if the receiver didn't comply with what was demanded of them. Ricki would've been proud if she wasn't also profusely annoyed. 

“Fine.” Ricki took out the poster and showed it to them. “There. Happy?”

“Who’s that?” Morty squinted to get a better look. “I-is that like, your next target or something?”

“No,” said Ricki. She sighed. “It’s...an old friend of mine.”

Summer cocked an eyebrow. “So you two were like, banging.”

“Yeah, we were, okay?”

“Oh my god, grandma. It was serious, wasn’t it?”

“W-what makes you think that?” Ricki snapped. She placed the paper back in her coat. “M-maybe I just like to look at his face.”

“You _never_ get flustered talking about who you were banging. Is it, like, and on and off thing?”

“Its hard to meet up with someone who’s dead.”

The silence was immediate. Summer clamped her mouth shut, her cheeks coloring.

“M-maybe we shouldn’t have kept asking,” said Morty.

Ricki scoffed. Her fingers twitched and before she knew it she reached for a cigarette and lit it. She allowed herself to a few precious moments of indulgence while she collected her thoughts. “Cut that shit out, if you made me spill the beans, d-don’t go pussying out on it afterwards.”

Morty spoke first, cautiously, as if he thought Ricki would punch him through the screen, or worse, end the call. “S-so, uh, w-what’s his name?”

“Stanford Pines,” she said. If her voice hitched a bit as she spoke, the kids made no comment on it. She watched the tip of the cigarette burn away, the ashes falling onto her lab coat. “He, uh. Was a good guy. Bit of an asshole, but n-not like I can throw stones in that department.”

“D-did you love him?”

Morty’s question punched a hole in her chest. She choked mid-inhale, coughing until the corners of her eyes were watery. “Jesus, w-where did that fucking come from?”

Summer gave her brother a perplexed stare.

Morty shrugged, fidgeting with his thumbs. “Y-you just never get this was unless you’re talking about Grandma Diane.”

“I’m not in kindergarten, Morty. Y-you know how I feel about ‘love’ as a concept.” She spat the word _love_ out as if it was poison.

“It’s a chemical that compels animals to breed,” said Summer with an eye roll, as if she’d heard it a hundred times over. “And we all know you’re just saying that.”

Ricki opened her mouth to reply when the spaceship lurched forward. She yelped, clutching the side of her seat. Her cigarette fell on her knee. She crushed it in her metallic hand. “Fuck!”

Something was coming towards her, a series of long, colorful gashes on the starry sky. They began to swirl into a vortex of increasingly unstable whirls of bright, bleeding colors.

“R-ricki? Wh-what’s going on?” Morty pressed his face closer to the screen.

“Wormhole,” she said. Her body tensed against the leather seat, back pressing against it. “Kids, I-I have to go.”

She began pressing buttons on her control panel. The inside of the ship began blinking red. A plethora of warnings littered her monitor. Her ship jumped, jostling her. “I-I’ll see you soon.”

“Wait, what—”

Ricki shut down the transmission. She grit her teeth, pulling the ship away from the threat.

A wormhole. Of all the damn places to run into one.

“Why the fuck didn’t my sensors catch it?”

She began pulling the ship away from the swirl, putting all of the ship’s power into it. In the past, it had been all she needed to do, but it was as if somebody had latched a hook onto the ship, pulling her backwards. Just as she reached for her portal gun to get herself out of there, she got engulfed in a vortex of color and noise too overwhelming for her human senses to comprehend.

The last thought that crossed her mind as she got sucked in, plopping her helmet back on as everything blurred together, was that she was going to be pissed if she missed therapy because of this.

*

Wanna see what Ricki looks like? Well, now you can [here](https://introvert-no-chameleon.tumblr.com/post/629564033782235136/forget-to-forgive-chapter-1-old-news)! 


	2. Welcome to Gravity Falls

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Featuring some incredibly unsubtle foreshadowing, a surprise character, and some good-old-fashioned Pines family bonding.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ford made a point of clearing his throat loudly. “Gravity Falls still has its Weirdness Magnet in play. Weirdmaggedon only amplified it and allowed it to be twisted to Bill’s will when his dimension bled through. As we know, that has left our reality a bit unstable. Last summer we had the worst of it. But now…it may be that something may be being pulled over here, something so strange that Gravity Falls is managing to attract it even from another dimension. Or…perhaps it is attracted to Gravity Falls.”

If an outsider were to come across the small lumberjack town of Gravity Falls, they would, most probably, get very underwhelmed. At a first glance, it was charming at best and quaint at worst. Aside from the refreshing Oregon air, there wasn’t much to the town, no impressive landmarks or sprawling cities or attractions so to speak.

But if they lingered, just as Stanford Filbrick Pines had when he first moved, they’d quickly discover that there was far more to Gravity Falls than meets the eye. So, when he’d woken up on a quiet Monday morning to see a crack of what appeared to be a crack in reality floating a few inches off the kitchen floor, he found he wasn’t as surprised as he should have been. The old wooden floorboards of the shack creaked as he approached it, a mug of coffee in his hand.

It was incredibly thin; another person would think that what he was seeing was a trick of the light, or perhaps some light reflecting off a mirror. Ford, however, had traveled the multiverse for long enough to recognize a tear in time and space when he saw one.

Ford hummed, rubbing his chin as he considered his options. He still had a large amount of alien adhesive tucked away in his suitcase. He knew a small amount would seal it and the hot summer air would dry it up in a matter of seconds. The issue would be that there were four other people arriving shortly, and he would also have to close off this section of the kitchen, as well as make sure no one interrupted the drying process…

“Poindexter,” said a low, gravelly voice muffled with early-morning sleepiness. “Why’re ya already makin’ your thoughtful nerd face this early in the morning?”

“Good morning, Stanley, I didn’t expect you to be up for a few more hours.” Ford continued to observe the rift, taking a sip from his cup of coffee. He’d forgotten that Soos had unfortunately taken a cue from Stanley when it came to buying cheap things. This roast wasn’t nearly as potent as the one he and his twin kept on the Stan O’ War II, and he’d probably need at least two more cups if he hoped to get his mind kickstarted.

“Still gettin’ used to sleepin’ on land again,” said Stanley. “Besides, I wanted to check up on how Soos is runnin’ things before the squirts wake up and we can’t get anything done.”

“I’d hate to break it to you, but I think you may have to postpone those plans. Fiddleford had mentioned something like this happening, but it may be worse than I feared.”

Stanley mumbled something incomprehensible behind him. Ford heard a few pops and cracks as Stanley stretched. His twin dragged his feet over to where Ford stood, finally setting eyes on their current conundrum.

Stanley had gotten into better shape since he and Ford had reunited a year ago. While he and Stanley had always shared the same build—broad shoulders and squared jaws—Stanley hadn’t been able to take as good care of his body as Ford had for the last 40 years until very recently. At Ford’s request, Stan had begun eating healthier, and their seaside adventures had lifted Stanley’s spirits and motivated him to begin getting in shape.

Now, Ford was proud to say that even though Stanley still had belly fat, it had lessened. He still had those skinny legs that reminded Ford of a chicken, but there was only so much an exercise regime could do against genetics and years of bodily neglect. That and Stanley still had to deal with old age and the aches and pains that came with it, even if Ford’s weren’t as bad as his.

It took Stanley a few moments to get his bearings, eventually rubbing his tired eyes and putting on his glasses, but the moment he managed to finish processing what happened his face came to life, curiosity sparking in his brown eyes. “Huh. Thought we’d sealed off all of these things with your magic space glue last summer.”

“We did,” said Ford. “And I certainly would have noticed something like this in front of our noses. No, this is recent.”

Stanley scratched his head, frowning at the tear as if doing so would make it go away. “You said McGucket told ya about it? Does that mean he’s seen more of ‘em?”

“Not exactly. He mentioned that Gravity Falls was still suffering some moments of instability thanks to Weirdmageddon. However, he only told me about small things—electricity going out in the entire town in clear weather, technology interference, phenomenon of that sort. He would’ve told me about this.”

“Welp, standin’ around isn’t gonna solve anything. Just go and get your glue gun so that we can fix this before the nosy little gremlins get to it.”

As if on cue, Ford heard something shatter in the other room, followed by a meek “oops” and harsh whispering.

Stanley sighed, but his fond smile betrayed any sense of annoyance he may have tried to show. “Why is everybody up so damn early in the mornin’?”

“Language, Stanley.”

“Ford, they’re about to be fourteen, they know swear words.”

“Which is why we should set an example—”

“Yeah, yeah. Kids, get your butts over here, the jig is up.”

Two pairs of feet shuffled over towards the kitchen. A head filled with long, curly brown hair peeked around the corner first wearing a large grin framed with braces and perfect white teeth. “Heyyyy, Grunkle Stan and Ford! Didn’t think old geezers woke up so early.”

Stanley rolled his eyes. “You’d sleep until the afternoon if I let ya.”

Mabel shrugged her shoulders, her bright smile never dimming. She bounced towards Stanley and gave him a hug, which he returned without hesitation. “Well, I was too excited to see my favorite Grunkles in the world to want to sleep for too long.” Her head peeked out from Stan’s arms. “Come on, Grunkle Ford and Dip-dop! Group hug!”

“Mabel, I told you, I’m too old for that name.” Dipper walked into the kitchen, arms crossed. “We’re adults now, I can’t have a lame nickname like that!”

Ford chuckled as Mabel stuck out her tongue at her scowling brother. “I wouldn’t count on it, Dipper. Stanley still calls me the same nickname we had since we were children. Both of them.”

He failed to mention that he still had some issues with Stanley’s other nickname for him, “Sixer”. Even after the two made amends, Ford still couldn’t stop himself from flinching when he heard the name, the memories of a laughing triangular demon surfacing like air bubbles from the bottom of a lake. His twin noticed it, and for the moment, it was an unspoken rule that Stanley just stuck to “Poindexter” or his name.

But this morning was not a time to bring up such dreary thoughts, not when the sun was shining, and the gentle birdsong filled the air, almost drowned out by the woodpecker that was busying itself with one of the oaks outside. More importantly, he was surrounded by three of his favorite people in the entire multiverse, and they were all safe and sound.

There were more important matters to deal with, and Ford couldn’t risk allowing himself to get distracted. He would not spare a single thought to _that_ or any of the hundreds of other little things that plagued his mind at night. At least, not today. Now was a time for an interesting new day and a new problem that needed to be solved.

The past could wait, after all. It wasn’t as if it was going anywhere.

Shaking those thoughts out of his head, he watched as Dipper paused, taking in this information with the contemplative attitude that was a staple of his person. “I guess that’s true,” said Dipper. “But is it really necessary to give my nickname nicknames?”

Mabel seemed to take the remark as praise, beaming. “What can I say? I’m a visionary.” Then, with far too much energy for it to be so early in the morning, she shouted: “Now get in, it’s group hug time and we’ve already wasted precious hugging moments!”

She pulled Dipper into Stanley’s arms. As usual, Ford’s nephew was no match for Mabel’s surprising strength.

Stanley gave Dipper an affectionate noogie before lifting both children up, with a cheer from Mable and a high-pitched yelp of surprise from Dipper. He smirked at Ford. “You heard the kid, Poindexter. No getting out of it.”

The corners of Ford’s mouth tugged into a smile. “I suppose I must admit defeat, then.”

He wrapped his family in his arms, immediately feeling Mable’s arms wrap around his neck in return. Once they separated, Mabel stayed clinging to him, much to his amusement. “Everything alright, my dear?”

“Just gotta make sure to distribute equally,” she said matter-of-factly.

“Uh, now that’s out of the way…” Dipper pointed past Ford’s shoulder. “We heard you guys talking about that. Do you think that’s going to be a problem?”

“Hard to say,” said Ford. “I need to consult Fiddleford and see what he’d discovered, but at a glance I’d say these don’t seem to be bleeding from the Nightmare Dimension.”

“Then…where do you think they’re coming from?”

“I have some theories,” said Ford.

“Poindexter, save some of the nerd talk for later. Kids, get changed so we can go and grab some grub at _Greasy’s,_ there’s no way I’m cooking while the glue dries over a tear in space or whatever. Don’t want anybody near that thing, especially not after what happened last time.”

Ford suppressed a shudder. The image of his niece getting dragged away by a giant hand monster still haunted his nightmares. “I agree. Now, hurry along and get ready. Stanley and I need to seal this tear before we leave.”

Ford set Mabel down. As soon as her feet hit the floor she ran towards the stairs, her long brown hair whipping behind her. “Last one up is a wet noodle!”

Dipper scrambled after her, almost tripping over himself in the process. “Hey, no fair, that’s cheating!”

Ford chuckled as their footsteps faded away to the roof overhead. “She learns too much from you.”

Stan shrugged, a grin on his face. “What can I say? The kid knows how to get ahead.”

“Hopefully, she does so with hard work and passion, not by _cheating_.”

“Hey, she can do both. Ya think cheatin’ is easy? It takes skill to pull the wool over some poor shmuck’s eyes.”

Ford glared at his twin. “Will you please just get the gun? I want to make sure this is properly tended to before we leave.”

“Yeah, yeah. I’ll be back,” he said, making his way to the guest room that had taken the place of Ford’s old study.

Ford was left staring at the rift. He dug in his pockets, pulling out one of his new Journals, and began making a draft of how the rift looked.

Something blocked the rays of sunlight. Ford immediately shut his journal and whirled towards the direction of the window. He caught what he swore was the end of a human shape outside. He went over to the window and threw it open, poking his head out.

“Stan? Soos?”

He got no reply. There was nobody around, and nothing out of the ordinary, at least, not for Gravity Falls. He noticed a gnome scurry off into the bushes, but whatever he’d seen had been at least tall as tall as he was.

Perhaps he should check the perimeter.

“Find somethin’ interestin’, Poindexter?”

Ford closed the window. He turned to his twin, who came in holding the adhesive gun. “Just saw a gnome. Although, I think we may have another creature lurking around.”

Stan rolled his eyes. “Ford, I was just outside. There’s nothin’ out there but some fairies, the occasional squirrel and Gompers. You’re bein’ paranoid again.”

“Probably.” He said, staring out into the woods.

He felt a rough clap on his shoulder. “Loosen up, bro. We’re here to relax, remember? All that stuff’s behind us.”

“A friend of mine once said it’s better to be wrong and paranoid than right and dead.”

“You had friends?”

Ford, despite his unease, gave Stan a playful shove.

Stanley laughed. “But seriously, your friend sounds like a real downer.”

“Hm, for the most part, yes, but they had their moments.”

“Look, if it really makes ya feel better, we’ll have a look around after we close this, alright? But I’m tellin’ ya—I would’ve noticed if there was somethin’ weird around here. I’ve lived her longer than you, and I know the place.”

Ford sighed, folding his hands behind his back. “I suppose you’re right.”

After they sealed the tear and did a thorough sweep of the area, where Stan’s assessment showed to be correct, he still couldn’t shake the unease, or the feeling of being watched, even as they got into the car and peeled away from the Shack.

*

By the time they had all arrived at the diner, Ford’s mood had improved. The drive over had been filled with endless chatter about the young twins’ year at Piedmont. Ford and Stan listened as they told him of small parts of their life, such as the theatre club Mable had joined, the Spelling Bees Dipper had won, their award for best Halloween costume, their parents’ reaction to the presence of Waddles, whom they had warmed up to immediately.

“Figures the fat naked jerk would get your parents to dote over him,” said Stan, shoving a pancake slice into his mouth. “At least I don’t have to deal with him all year.”

Mabel grinned around a bite of her own pancakes. She swallowed down an impressive amount of food, so much that Ford worried she was about to choke, and patted Stanley on the shoulder. “What can I say Grunkle Stan? Waddles is a charmer.”

“He eats garbage, Mable,” said Stan.

“He’s quirky, it’s all part of his charm,” she said. “Mom and Dad love him now, they even bought him his own pajamas!”

“That’s just because Mom and Dad didn’t want to send Waddles back to Grunkle Stan after he told them how much you cried,” said Dipper, grinning at Stan with undisguised amusement.

“Oi, you’re their kids, not mine. If I had to deal with the pig, then so do they.”

“Because you love me,” said Mabel, squishing her own cheeks with her fingers.

Stan grumbled something about not wanting to deal with a homeless pig, hiding his reddening cheeks with the collar of his jacket.

“Besides, nobody can deny how adorable Waddles looks in my sweaters. Just look at this _Lady Space Rebel_ sweater I knit him!”

She showed them a picture on the screen of her bedazzled phone screen. The pink pig had somehow gotten even larger than Ford last saw, yet still managed to stare at the camera in an admittedly adorable manner. The sweater in question was a stony grey with the silhouette of a woman standing triumphantly over the edge of a cliff.

“Lady what?” said Stan, picking up the phone and squinting at the picture. “Kid, what’re you on about now?”

“It’s her new obsession.” Dipper rolled his eyes. He’d just polished off his own plate of pancakes and pushed the plate away from him. “It’s this sci-fi show about a lady who’s this super genius and goes around fighting space criminals with a bunch of weird inventions.”

“She’s not _just_ super smart, Dipper!” Mabel put her hands on her waist, assuming a heroic posture similar to the woman on the sweater. “She’s also resourceful and half cyborg and has a super tragic and sympathetic backstory that is used as an excuse for her to do morally ambiguous things for the greater good! It’s a very serious show.” She sat back down, nodding to herself.

“Mabel, the season 1 finale had her fighting an army of space goats on the moon.”

“In a _serious_ way.”

“They exploded into dust when they were killed, I don’t think it’s as serious as you think.”

She crossed her arms with a sniff. “You just don’t know how to appreciate art.”

“Whatever,” said Dipper, with the sort of fond exasperation that came with dealing with an eccentric sibling. “Oh, hey, Grunkle Ford? When is McGucket coming over?” I really want to talk about what he’s noticed so far about the tears and stuff.”

“I told him to meet us here, but he mentioned having to run an errand with Tate first.”

Dipper smiled. “I’m glad he’s reconnecting with his son again.”

“As am I,” said Ford. That was an understatement. He’d feared that it had been too late for Fiddleford once he told him about his troubles, how he’d destroyed his mind to the point of insanity and alienated his entire family in the process. It warmed his heart to know that his old friend was recovering well and able to regain most of his memories (along with his sanity). The two of them would never be able to regain the time they’d lost, but they still had many years ahead to make up for it.

“That reminds me,” said Stan, pulling a cellphone out of his pocket and sliding it to Ford. “You forgot your phone again, Poindexter, I think McGucket’s been textin’ ya.”

Ford frowned at the device that had become so important these days. He didn’t understand why they had to be so small. Yes, they were good for mobility, but they were also difficult to use for someone with hands like Ford’s and Stanley’s. He considered asking Fiddleford for a customized version. His friend would probably be able to make something less uncomfortable.

“Hm, it appears so,” he said. He began scrolling through some messages. The first few mentioned that Fiddleford was on the way. The last, however…

“Fiddleford said there’s another tear opening up soon.”

The three Pines stared up at Ford, their interest piqued. Dipper and Mabel seemed to be radiating excitement, while Stan frowned in that way that he did whenever he didn’t know how to feel about something but was leaning towards annoyance.

“When you say, “opening up”. Whaddya mean by that?” said Stan.

“It means that we need to keep our eyes open,” said Ford. “It’s a good thing I kept the adhesive gun in the car.”

“Hey, Grunkle Ford, now that we’re here, what do you think is causing more tears? You don’t think it’s…”

Dipper didn’t finish the sentence. He hadn’t needed to.

“No, rest assured. I’m sure this is just a side effect of the lingering weirdness. I suppose now is a good time to share that theory I have.”

“Watch out, kids, he’s going into nerd mode,” said Stan.

Ford made a point of clearing his throat loudly. “Gravity Falls still has its Weirdness Magnet in play. Weirdmaggedon only amplified it and allowed it to be twisted to Bill’s will when his dimension bled through. As we know, that has left our reality a bit unstable. Last summer we had the worst of it. But now…it may be that something may be being pulled over here, something so strange that Gravity Falls is managing to attract it even from another dimension. Or…perhaps _it_ is attracted to Gravity Falls.”

Dipper stroked his chin. “That…doesn’t sound good.”

“Well, it’s not necessarily a threat. It could be anything, really. That’s the beauty of the multiverse,” said Ford, smiling.

“Maybe it could be a friend of yours, Grunkle Ford!”

Ford chuckled. “It’s not impossible, but the likelihood of it being someone from my travels is unlikely, as I never stayed in one place for long. That, and most of them can hardly be considered friends. Well…except for one, but that was…complicated.”

Mabel had a mischievous expression on her face that made a foreboding feeling settle in his stomach. Unlike Stanley, Mable was never subtle when she prepared herself to enact shenanigans. “You mean complicated in like a… _romantic way_?”

Images came, unbidden, to Ford’s mind: a flash of blue hair, a small, tight smile and a pair of hardened light brown eyes staring at him, always tired, but also overfilling with something Ford couldn’t name, something he hadn’t understood back then. How the emotions took ahold of his chest and wouldn’t let go, making his heart ache.

Ford felt his face heat up in a matter of seconds. He was glad he emptied half of his mug, because he’d jerked it towards him as if he’d been attacked (and he supposed he had, in a manner of speaking).

Stanley’s laughter boomed throughout the diner. “Wow, you really know when to hit ‘em hard, dontcha, Pumpkin?”

“Mable, don’t be stupid,” said Dipper. “Grunkle Ford was too busy fighting Bill. He didn’t have time to meet somebody…Grunkle Ford?” Dipper stared at him, concern written on his face. “Are you okay?”

“Sweet Moses,” said Stanley, and Ford could hear the alarm bells ringing in his head from his brother’s tone alone. A vicious bout of mockery was about to occur, and Ford found himself unprepared to mount a defense. “Poindexter, ya sly dog! Ya did meet somebody!”

“Stanley,” said Ford, hopelessly.

“All this time there was somebody out there and ya didn’t tell me! No wonder you’re never interested in all the hot babes we meet.”

“That’s not the reason, I just don’t see the point in investing time and energy into a relationship with someone I don’t know. And…” Ford stared at the coffee in his hands. “They aren’t…with us, so to speak. Not for…a long time.”

He forgot how easily Stanley could read him, and he must’ve given something away, judging by his brother’s reactions. The silence that settled over them felt heavier than he would’ve liked.

When Stanley broke it, his voice had gone down to a whisper. “Moses, Ford. I’m so sorry.”

Dipper and Mable exchanged glances.

Mabel frowned. “Did…did I say something wrong?” Her voice had gotten small, and Ford snapped himself out of his memories.

“No, Mabel, it’s nothing you did,” he said. “I’m afraid it’s just something I’d rather not discuss at the moment, is all.”

“Did something bad happen?”

Ford sighed. “I met many people during my travels through the multiverse. Dipper is correct in saying that I never had time for “meeting someone”. However, there was a person who had meant very much to me. If it weren’t for them, I wouldn’t be standing here.”

“Do you miss them?” said Mable, cocking her head to the side like an inquisitive puppy.

“I do, I suppose, but it’s in the past,” said Ford, sipping his coffee. He made a point to avoid his grand-nieces’ prying eyes.

“Grunkle Ford! You can’t just give up on love!” said Mabel, slamming her hands on the table. “You gotta get back out there! Plus, you’re old, and you don’t have that much time left.”

Ford decided to ignore the casualness in which his niece made that last remark. “Mabel, I appreciate your…concern. But I’m just not interested in romantic pursuits.”

“But you were _in_ a romantic relationship!”

“’Romantic’ is not the word I would use. It was more like a mutually beneficial partnership. Purely circumstantial.”

Stan raised an unbelieving eyebrow but kept whatever opinions he had to himself.

Mabel, however, seemed reluctant to let him off the hook so easily. “But it’s not like that special someone is just going to fall from the sky!”

Ford would’ve answered and he had already begun to throw pleading looks at Stan to rescue him from her clutches when something shook the very ground around them.

Ford’s coffee cup shattered in his hands. The windows near their booth cracked. Around them, various townsfolk began shouting, some finding refuge under the tables.

“Aaaaand I’m guessing that’s what McGucket was talkin’ about,” said Stan, exchanging a glance with Ford.

“This didn’t happen with the other one, did it?” said Dipper, covering as some rubble fell onto his hat.

“No, it didn’t,” said Ford, frowning.

Dipper’s eyes widened. With a shaking hand, he pointed out the window. “Grunkle Ford!”

Ford followed his pointing, as did the rest of them.

It was then that he heard the screaming.

Ford had done enough traveling to recognize the difference between a cry of excitement and a terrified shriek, and this was definitely the latter. He turned towards the source, staring through the cracked glass. When he found the source, he felt the hairs stand on his back.

There was no mistaking the creature’s identity. The ugly face, the long, pointed ears, the goblin-like features and the hulking, muscular body. Ford pulled his gun out of his coat pocket.

“The Gremloblin!” Dipper stood on the seat, eyes wide in horror. “I thought it never left the forest. What’s it doing here?!”

“The who-what?” asked Stan, staring at Ford as he waited for an explanation.

“It’s a creature native to the Gravity Falls forest,” said Ford. “And it’s incredibly dangerous. One look into its eyes or a swipe of its claws will have you seeing your worst nightmare.”

“Sweet Moses, you’re telling me this thing exists _now_?” said Stan.

“Never mind that,” said Ford, leaping over the seats. “Stanley, stay with the children! I have to stop it before it hurts someone!”

“Oi, you sure ya can take that thing alone?”

“I’ve dealt with it once before,” said Ford, taking off the safety of his blaster. “And that was before all my combat experience.”

“But Grunkle Ford, we wanna help!” said Mabel.

Stan glanced at Ford, the two of them reaching the same conclusion. Stan wrapped an arm around the two of them, shoving them down to take cover behind the booth.

Satisfied that his niblings were safe, Ford dashed out of the diner, running as fast as his legs could carry him.

The streets were utter chaos. The peaceful afternoon that was present a moment ago had been overcome by running pedestrians. The Gremloblin tore through anything in its path, overturning cars and destroying any object unfortunate enough to be in its path. Ford thanked the Axolotl that most of the civilians he’d spotted on their way to the diner had cleared the area.

Unfortunately, there was still one person who hadn’t managed to run off. The Gremloblin lifted a car and made to throw it at a teenager who had tripped on a stray bit of debris. She shrieked, covering her face.

Aiming his weapon had become a reflex by this point of his life, as natural as walking. Ford switched it to stun mode and fired straight at the creature, all in a matter of seconds. The burst of electricity hit it right in the chest. The car crashed to the ground. 

Seeing her attacker distracted, the girl took the opportunity to run out of sight.

The hulking beast blinked. It turned to face Ford, growling.

Ford glanced at his blaster, and then at the creature. Something was wrong. The voltage in his gun should have completely paralyzed it. He’d pacified a planet-eating worm monster with this gun.

The monster didn’t get the message. It absorbed the shock with only a small twitch of its ear, shook its head and roared as it flung the remains of a utility pole at him. He ducked, watching it whoosh over his head and crash into the alley behind him, smashing into splinters.

“Stanford Pines. My old keeper has finally returned.”

His spine stiffened. That deep, growling voice was only second to Bill Cipher’s in terms of the amount of utter dread he felt hearing it. He took a step back, even as he kept his weapon trained on it. He sucked in a breath. “ _Shapeshifter_.”

Before his eyes, the Gremloblin’s body shrunk and molded into a smaller, no less intimidating form just as horrifying as he remembered. Even after 30 years in the multi-verse, the white, slimy creature in front of him still managed to make his skin crawl. It walked towards him with its four thin legs, two pink, pupil-less eyes staring at him. The top half of it was bulkier than he’d last seen it, and all the more concerning.

“So, you managed to crawl back here after all,” it said. “And here I thought you had died.”

“No. How did you escape?! You were in the cryochamber, I _saw_ you!”

It chuckled. Its round, fanged snout contorted into a sick imitation of a grin. “The power went out just long enough for me to break out of my prison. You think you’d learn by now not to keep me in your pathetic cages.”

Ford wanted to kick himself for making such an elementary mistake. In his excitement to get out into the ocean, he must’ve forgotten to double-check the backup power in the bunker, like the complete and utter _fool_ he was.

How could he let his guard down so easily?! He’d let himself get complacent, and now—

It shifted again and Stanford couldn’t stop himself from recoiling when he saw a younger version of himself grin at him, every detail completely copied, down to the small coffee stain on the tie he wore on the day he locked the creature in the cryochamber.

“Something wrong, Stanford? You seem unwell. Then again, you know what they say about meeting your doppelganger…”

In a blur of movement, a thin, rope-like appendage smacked Ford down into the concrete. He heard his back crack, the air stolen from his lungs. His gun clattered to the ground, out of reach.

“Grunkle Ford!”

_No!_

He heard footsteps half far too close to him. At the corner of his eyes he saw Dipper and Mabel, with Stan catching up to them, covered in glitter. He immediately regretted teaching Mabel how to make her own glitter bombs.

The Shapeshifter turned towards them, grinning with Ford’s mouth with suddenly sharp teeth. “As predictable as usual, you humans.”

Stan had thankfully caught up to the twins and pulled them behind him, raising a fist that had already equipped a brass knuckle. He took in the situation, the easy-going smile and relaxed body language from earlier gone, now replaced with a man who had had his back meet a corner on too many occasions yet managed to come out alive every time. “Sorry, Poindexter, the gremlins got the jump on me.”

“Never mind that, get them out of here!”

“Grunkle Stan, the shapeshifter hates the cold!” Dipper pointed towards it, showing no signs of retreating. “We need to find a way to freeze it!”

The shapeshifter laughed, its voice a rumbling cascade that grated against Ford’s ears in a way he couldn’t describe as anything but bone-chilling, the kind that stayed with him and lingered in his nightmares. “You underestimate me, boy! Although…this couldn’t have been better. I’ll be able to also get my vengeance on you and your sister for what you did!”

“When in the Belgian Waffles did you two deal with this thing?” Stan turned to Mabel, who shrugged, sheepish.

“We, uh, kinda went out on an adventure to Grunkle Ford’s super-secret bunker right after you told us not to do anything dangerous with the journal?” Mabel grinned in the only way a child who knew she’d be getting a severe scolding could. “It was Dipper’s idea!”

“Mabel!” Dipper was the picture of a sibling betrayed.

“Enough!” The shapeshifter put a foot down on Ford’s neck.

His hands flew to its ankle, struggling to push it off.

White, translucent tendrils squeezed his arms, slamming them against the concrete. “Come any closer, and I’ll kill him!”

“Stan, do something!” Ford gasped, his vision blinking on and off, black dots filling his vision. “He can’t get away!”

His brother faltered, jaw clenched. He could see the anguish, the guilt in Stan’s expression as he stayed in place, eyes darting from Ford to the Shapeshifter. 

_“Ford? What do I do? **Ford**!”_

Stan was about to watch Ford get taken away from him again, and Ford couldn’t let that happen. He raised his leg and kicked the Shapeshifter right in the nose. Instead of the cracking of bone that would usually accompany the act of violence, he heard a splat, like a piece of meat thrown against a wall.

Regardless of what it sounded like, it had the desired effect. The creature reeled back, grabbing at its face, rage flashing in its eyes. Ford took the opportunity to grab his freeze ray.

The Shapeshifter was faster. It knocked it out of Ford’s hand. It made to lunge, but Stan tackled it to the ground, pounding into it mercilessly with his fists.

“Grunkle Ford!” Mabel’s voice came from a little behind him.

Ford turned just in time to grab his discarded blaster. “We’ll discuss your disobedience later. Now go and hide, both of you!”

He didn’t check to see if they’d followed his command. He ran over to Stanley, who was struggling to hold down the resisting creature.

The Shapeshifter had come to the conclusion that his more human form had too many disadvantages; it morphed into its original form and grabbed Stanley’s arm mid-swing. Once again its form twisted into something new. However, this time it stretched, casting a large shadow over them. Just as it began to solidify its form, something akin to the crack of thunder boomed through the air. Less than a second later, something flew straight into it, knocking it several feet away into the emptied street and smashing it into concrete, sending debris everywhere.

Stan stumbled back, steadying himself. His twin stared back, just as confused as Ford felt.

“Ford!” Stan pointed up to where the Shapeshifter had stood.

It was just like the one they’d seen in the kitchen earlier, but wider and longer. It marred the otherwise clear blue sky, floating there as if it always belonged.

Whatever had slammed into their attacker had apparently fallen from said rift. Ford followed the trail of black smoke, and his eyes immediately fell on a flying saucer. It looked just like the little light-up toy he kept, down to the stereotypical roundness and the glass dome. It sat on the now cartoonishly flattened Shapeshifter.

“Holy smokes!” Stan jogged over to Ford, eyes wide. “I knew you said aliens could come, but…”

“Stan,” said Ford, frowning. “Real-life aliens don’t fly in those kinds of spaceships. It’s…it’s just a human myth.”

Stan arched an eyebrow, jerking a thumb towards the wreck. “Tell that to the poor schmuck who came in that.”

“Oh my gosh, oh my gosssshhhhh!” Mabel ran over to them, eyes sparking. “An actual alien! Oh, do you think it’s friendly?”

Dipper caught up, wide-eyed. “It flew right into the Shapeshifter!”

“We can see that, Dipper,” said Stan.

“Everyone, stay behind me,” said Ford, cocking his gun. “We don’t know if this is an enemy or an ally.”

As if on cue, the side of the spaceship opened. It was more reminiscent of a car door than an aircraft. A gloved hand clutched the side of the opened door. A tall, incredibly skinny humanoid figure stumbled onto the concrete. They wore some sort of sleek black armor, complete with a helmet. They held the side of their head, and Ford could just barely make out words coming through some sort of voice modifier.

“…fucking wormholes, a-always coming…coming up at t-the worst time.” They straightened, cracking their back with a loud groan. “Ow. I’m feeling that shit in the morning.” They finally seemed to notice the pile of goo pinned under their ship and poked it with the tip of their boot. “Oh, s-shit, did I hit somebody?”

“Yup! Thanks!” Mabel’s enthusiastic voice caught their attention, and they whirled around, hand on their hip. An assortment of dangerous-looking weaponry hung on their belt, and they clutched what appeared to be a blaster but hesitated when they saw the source, their hand hovering over the weapon.

They tensed up, probably noticing the blaster pointed at their head, but if they were concerned, they didn’t show it. Their hands weren’t so much as raised.

“State your purpose,” said Ford. “We will not harm you if you mean none to us, but if you try to attack, I will retaliate.”

“What dimension is this?” they said.

“Did ya hit your head or somethin’?” Stan gestured at them. “What’s he talkin’ about, Ford?”

“Stan,” said Ford, with no small amount of exasperation. “I’ve already explained the multiverse’s classification system to you.”

“Eh, I probably wasn’t listenin’.”

Ford glared at his twin while clearing his throat. “We’re in dimension 46’\\. You came into this place via a tear in time and space. I understand you must be disorientated, but rest assured that you should be able to return through the tear…”

“Uh. Grunkle Ford?” Dipper tugged at his sleeve and pointed.

Ford followed, watching as the tear shrunk before his eyes. Moments later, it disappeared, leaving no trace of ever being there.

The stranger’s head turned towards the phenomenon, but they remained quiet.

“Well,” said Ford. “That’s unexpected.”

The stranger walked towards Ford, despite the fact that his gun was still trained on them. They clicked on a strange screen around their wrist, and Ford watched as something scanned him in the blink of an eye.

_Stanford Pines, Dimension 46’\ confirmed._

They gasped. Then, a moment later, they pulled off their helmet.

Teal hair fell around their chestnut brown eyes. He lowered his gun, paying no heed to the inquisitive look Stanley gave him, because, despite the fact that there were more wrinkles on their face than he remembered, and their features were slightly different, he couldn’t deny the thin, straight nose, the hardened expression in those eyes, the way they managed to express a juxtaposition of hope and grief, all captured in a single stare.

He’d come across other versions, of course. There was something about them as if they weren’t so much living in the multiverse as a part of it. Almost every other dimension he’d come across had a version of Rick Sanchez in it, and he’s crossed the paths of more than his fair share. But he knew that even if they were technically the same person, they were far from being similar, and even without the change in appearance, he could without a doubt say that the person in front of him was _his_ partner.

“ _Ford?_ ”

*

**Psst...guess what? I commissioned[flanexism-draws](https://flanexism-draws.tumblr.com/) to make a rendition of this scene for me, and man did he deliver! You can see it [here](https://flanexism-draws.tumblr.com/post/630195112866136064/super-unique-commission-for)! Now please excuse me while I go drown in a puddle of my tears as I continue to cry over how amazing it looks. (Also, if somebody could explain how I can post images directly on AO3 I'd appreciate it because I still don't know how to).**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Comments will help Ford prepare to deal with the overwhelming force that is the Power of Matchmaker Mabel.


	3. Reunions

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which a heartwarming reunion is ruined.
> 
> OR
> 
> The Chapter Where Things Start Going to Shit because Life Just Hates Ricki that Much.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ford finally set his eyes on the portal gun, an odd expression on his face. He swallowed, staring at it as if he expected it to fly out of her hand and attack him. “May I…?”
> 
> She handed it to him. “Be careful with that. Wouldn’t wanna activate a portal into the blender dimension or—or something.”
> 
> “Oh course,” he said, distracted. His hands held the portal gun as if it was both the answer to all of his prayers and the bane of his existence. And man, wasn’t that the best way to describe the damn thing. “Interdimensional travel at the palm of your hand. I knew you were telling me the truth, but…”
> 
> “Still hard to believe?” she said.
> 
> He nodded. “I still can’t believe you did it.” There was something so hurtful about the words, not because they were meant to insult or demean her. It was the regret, the bitterness that she could feel from them, the voice of a man who had way too many of them.
> 
> She could also sympathize in that department.

It was him.

There was no denying it, especially not when she could see the six fingers on each hand, currently wrapped around the gun he had lowered once she opened her helmet. The only difference was a face worn with age and soot-grey hair instead of the chestnut brown she remembered.

“Rick?” he said. He took a step towards her. “Is that…is it really you?”

What the fuck were the odds? (She, of course, knew the odds, which just made the fact that she was there all the more baffling).

She absent-mindedly pressed something on her watch. Her suit was made of nanomachines that fell off and gathered into the pockets of her lab coat on command. In a matter of moments that she was back in her normal clothes, her black turtleneck and slacks.

“It’s, uh, it’s Ricki. I go by female pronouns now.” She swallowed. Her throat felt unbelievably dry. “But, uh. Yeah. It’s…i-it’s me. I-it, uh, it’s a recent thing. I mean, it kinda wasn’t. I-I mean, the body thing was, but t-that’s a long story, a-and i-it…it’s really _you_.” By this point was carrying the conversation more with herself than with Ford. Her arms fell to her sides. “I thought you were _dead_.”.

He smiled, and it reached his eyes now, so different from the hollow ones he’d give her every once in a while. In fact, in general, he seemed less…stiff. Yeah, he had a weapon, and he still looked like he could give a mean roundhouse kick or two, but overall he’d gotten, well. Softer. “I could say the same about you.”

“You…”

She’d often wonder what she’d ever tell Ford if she ever got to see him again, of course. She figured that she’d finally be able to tell him things she’d been too afraid to say before, like “I care about you more than I care about almost anything else in the multiverse”, or “I think you’re incredibly handsome and charming even though you’re the densest motherfucker I’ve ever met in my life”.

You know. Romantic crap like that.

But when it came to her, nothing was ever simple. She was still pretty confused, she’d just kind of been hurtling through the sky towards what she assumed would be certain death until hitting whatever the fuck it was that she just hit (that wasn’t important right now, as long as nobody seemed to find it morally abhorrent she should be in the clear), and she still had Morty and Summer’s scared faces etched into her mind.

In other words, she wasn’t all there right now, and even if she had been, it’s really, really hard to come up with anything intelligent to say when the person you’d thought had died 17 years ago was standing in front of you. And whenever Ricki didn’t know how to handle something emotionally, she would default to something more familiar.

In this case, familiarity came in the form of intense, burning rage. She sucked in a much-needed breath of air, let it out and raised her head to face him. “You _asshole_!”

He blinked owlishly, taking a step back. “Er,”.

“I thought you were dead! Your tracker wasn’t giving any signal, I-I thought you got blown into the next life!” She waved her hands around with every word, heaving as if she’d just ran a marathon stomping towards him. “I could strangle you, Pines! Do you—do you have any idea how long it’s been you sonofa—”

He raised his hands defensively. “I took it off because I saw you get _killed_ and couldn’t risk having someone else use it to find me.”

She stopped. “W-what are you talking about?”

“I saw your face!”

“My face? W-wait,” said Ricki. “Oh, god. P-please tell me this did not all happen because you didn’t scan the body.”

“Why would I have thought to do that? I couldn’t linger, and—”. His eyes widened as the realization hit. “It wasn’t you.”

“Of course it wasn’t!” She rubbed her temples feeling the throbbing migraine under her fingertips. “I-I can’t believe… _Christ_.”

“Ricki—"

“I-I told you,” she said. “They weren’t gonna kill me, n-not when I have the portal gun formula in my head! They just locked me up.”

Ford gaped at her. “They took you to their central prison? And you _escaped_?”

“Yeah,” she said. “I-it took me a good chunk of a year though, a-and let me tell you, that was _not_ fun. Turns out awful prison food is multi-universal.”

“Not fun” was an understatement. She still woke up shivering in the middle of the night remembering some of the things they did to her. She’d hand it to the Federation; they were creative with their torture.

Judging by his horrified expression, Ford knew it too.

She shut her eyes, trying to focus on anything that wasn’t the increasing pain of her migraine as she processed everything. It didn’t help that she was due for another injection in half an hour, and some of the aching from her arm stump had already returned.

When she opened them, she saw a heartbroken Ford, and boy she wasn’t ready to see that. He took a cautious step towards her. “Ricki, I’m _so_ sorry. I…I should have known better, I was just…”

She pursed her lips. “Look, Ford, i-it…it doesn’t matter. I mean, it does, I guess, but—oof!”

Something barreled into Ricki’s legs while making a high-pitched squealing noise. Ricki peeked down to see a kid about Morty’s age, maybe a little younger, staring at her with wide brown eyes filled with wonder as if Ricki was some kind of unicorn, and was also clinging with a surprising amount of strength coming from a kid who couldn’t be older than 15.

“It’s you!” said the girl. She had such a loud voice despite her small size. “Lady Space Rebel!”

Out of the many things that Ricki thought may have come out of her mouth, that wasn’t one of them. “…What?”

“My name’s Mabel!” The girl continued, either unaware of or ignoring Ricki’s puzzlement. “You know my Grunkle Ford, right? I mean, of course you do, it’s so obvious.”

“Grunkle…?” Was this kid making up words? “Uh, Ford? Why is this small child clinging to my leg?”

“Mabel is my great-niece,” said Ford, a mix of fondness and exasperation in his tone. “And this is her twin, my grand-nephew, Dipper.” He gestured towards a boy that had stared at Ricki in the kind of way a tourist stared at a tiger coming out of its habitat in a zoo, with keen interest and thinly-veiled anxiety.

The boy reminded her of Morty. He exuded a similar nervous aura she could feel from miles away. He seemed torn between his curiosity and the urge to run away like a startled deer. Ricki wasn’t sure which one was winning. He wore shorts (actually, he seemed like the only one here dressed for summer, now that she thought about it) and a t-shirt over a sleeveless vest, and a trapper hat of all things.

Weird fashion was a family trait, apparently. 

Someone with an obscenely gravelly voice cleared their throat. “So, uh, ya gonna explain what the hell’s goin’ on, Poindexter?”

Ah. This one, she knew. She’d be blind not to; even though he had a gut and looked more worn for wear, he was definitely Ford’s twin. “Let me guess. You’re Stanley.”

Stan stopped, narrowing his eyes at her. “Just call me ‘Stan’, sayin’ my full name is just weird unless you're my brother.” He folded his arms over his chest. “And what exactly are ya supposed to be? Some alien lady?”

Ricki raised the side of her brow, casting a glance in Ford’s direction. “I-I’m guessing you haven’t told them much.”

“Er, no,” said Ford, rubbing the back of his neck.

She stuffed her hands in her pockets. “S-so, you gonna introduce me, or…?”

“Oh, of course.” He cleared his throat. “Stan, kids, this is Ricki Sanchez. She’s the…friend I mentioned earlier.”

“Huh, w-weird coincidence. I-I was just mentioning you to my grandkids before…whatever it was that just happened.” She gestured at what was left of her car.

Ford lit up. “You have grandchildren? So you went back to your family after all.”

Ricki scratched her nose. “Yeah…” She realized that the girl—Mabel—still clung to her leg. “Uh, kid? I’m gonna…need you to let go.”

She did, but still stood in Ricki’s personal space, beaming up at her. “I cannot believe this! Not only are you real, but you’re Grunkle Ford’s long-lost love!”

“Mable!” said Ford, aghast.

Stan chuckled nervously, glancing at Ricki. “Uh, l-l-let’s take it down a notch there, Sweetie.”

Ford turned into a blushing, stuttering mess. Aw. She’d forgotten how cute he was. Damn it, now she couldn’t stay mad. Stupid, handsome, Ford.

Ugh, if Summer or Morty could hear her thoughts she would’ve never heard the end of it.

“Ew,” the kid— _Dipper_ —shuddered. “Mabel, quit being gross, that’s our Grunkle you’re talking about.”

“Love isn’t gross, Dipper! You’ll understand when you’re older.”

He glared at her. “We’re literally the same age!”

“Maybe, but I’m still taller, which makes me still the Alpha Twin, which makes me wiser.” She seemed very sure of whatever logic she just used to justify her point.

Ricki sniggered and soon she was laughing. The kid reminded her of Summer when she was Mabel’s age. She’d been as much as a cheeky little shit. It was an uncanny resemblance. Ricki wiped a tear from the corner of her eye. “I-I like you, Mabel. Y-you’re a riot.”

Mabel beamed. “I’m just that good at making a first impression.”

“Yeah, uh, sorry to interrupt…. whatever it is that’s goin’ on right now,” said Stan. “Somebody mind fillin’ me in on what the h—hey, your girlfriend here just cursed up a storm, so I can’t? Ugh, fine— _heck_ is going on?” he said, catching the pointed glare Ford gave him.

“I-I mean it’s pretty straight-forward,” said Ricki, jerking a thumb at her car. “I was flying through space—”

“Space?” Dipper’s eyes grew wide, a manic excitement in his tone. “You mean that’s an actual _spaceship_?”

“No,” said Ricki, crossing her arms. “I-it’s a car that can travel through space. T-there’s a difference.”

Dipper folded his arms. “What’s the difference?”

“Spaceships can only fly through space. My car can go anywhere I want it to. _Anyway_. I’d just came back from a bounty-hunting job, ch-chatted up my grandkids, a wormhole opened, I got sucked in, here I am. I-it’s pretty straight-forward.”

“Is that why you’re voice is all stuttery?” Stan said.

“ _Stanley_!” hissed Ford.

“What? She is!”

Ricki’s eyes traveled to the goo that was under her poor car (the old gal would need some serious repairs, geez) when she noticed it start to move.

She clicked her tongue. “Ford?”

“Yes?”

“What did I run into when I got here?”

He frowned, and some of that familiar darkness from those older days returned. Not a good sign. “That’s was a shapeshifter I found near a crashed spaceship belonging to a crew of Trans-Dimensional beings of Trilazzxx Beta.”

“Y-yeah, was kinda afraid you’d say that. Let me guess: y-you found them all dead, a-and the spaceship looked as if there were a ton of ominous scratch marks from the inside implying that the crew died in an unpleasant way?”

He blinked. “Yes, actually. How did you know?”

Ricki pointed towards her car. “Because that thing isn’t just some shapeshifting monster, i-it’s an incredibly volatile species of bioweapon that was _supposed_ to be made extinct because they were capable of wiping out the populations of entire planets.”

Ford paled. His eyes darted to where Ricki was pointing, mouth hung open in shock. “Oh, no…”

Ricki’s spaceship fell to the side, the glass on the dome shattering. She winced. Great. She had just upgraded it, too. “…aaaand I-I’m guessing the crew of that ship thought they’d nab one to sell on the black market. L-let me guess. Mommy wasn’t too fond of being kept as a pet?”

She wasn’t talking to Ford anymore, nor his equally horrified family members. No, she was talking to the thing that had reformed in front of them that was very, very _pissed_.

“You are correct,” it said, and wow, that was an impressively intimidating voice. If she hadn’t seen worse, she might have actually been scared or some shit. “We can only reproduce on the brink of death—”

“In order to preserve your species, blah, blah, blah. Yeah, i-it was kind of obvious,” said Ricki. “Huh. Never seen one of you up close. G-gotta admit, don’t really see what all the fuss is about.”

Mabel had, during the entire conversation, began to shake. At one point, she’d re-attached herself to the side of Ricki’s pants.

“Are you _mocking_ me?” It twisted into a tall, long, centipede-monster. “I can crush you in an instant, foolish one-form!”

So it also had a flair for the dramatic. She wouldn’t be surprised if it learned that from Ford.

“Shifty, that is enough of this nonsense!” Ford’s voice took that tone he used for when he was either incredibly angry or incredibly afraid and making up for it by appearing to be angry. She knew which was the case now.

“Wait,” Stan’s voice cut through the moment with all the grace of a sledgehammer. “You named the shapeshifter…Shifty. _Seriously_?”

Ford cleared his throat. Loudly. “Stanley, this is not the time for this.”

Stan was trying to bite back laughter and failing. “Aren’t ya supposed to be some kinda genius? What you and McGucket couldn’t have thought of some fancy-smancy name or somethin’?”

“Stanley, I swear, if you say one more word—”

“Can we get back to the angry bioweapon please?” said Dipper, bless the kid.

“Right. Sorry,” Ford went back to staring down the shapeshifter, who had actually stopped to glare at the twins for running its moment. “Shifty, if you stop now, then I won’t have to hurt you—”

That was the wrong thing to say.

“ _Won’t have to hurt me_?” It slammed its thick tail onto the street. “You trapped me in ice for thirty years, forced to be confined to that small, suffocating tube!”

“You attacked Fiddleford—”

“Because you and he were planning to freeze me after you had finished your _experiments_.”

“You showed signs of being violent from the start,” said Ford, gritting his teeth. “And it is my responsibility to ensure that you don’t harm anybody else.”

“Then try and stop me!”

It flipped, bringing its thick tail down where Ford had stood moments before.

Shifty (god, that really was such a fucking stupid name) curl into a ball. It rolled at Ford, who dodged it, rolling away and back on his feet in moments.

Ricki frowned. His reaction time was slower than she’d remembered. It could’ve been age, since the last time she’d seen him his hair hadn’t started greying yet, but she had the sinking feeling that it had to do with a lack of practice.

Even so, Ford was still managing to avoid getting hit, jumping around like a particularly difficult-to-squash grasshopper. At one point he jumped onto the Shapeshifter’s back and smacked its insectoid head with the back of his gun.

It screamed, shaking him off. He flew a few feet away, expression panicked as he flew towards the street.

“Ford!” She began running to him, but almost tripped over her feet. She’d forgotten about Mabel, who wasn’t letting go. Ricki opened her mouth to scold her, but one look at the terrified expression on the girl’s face erased whatever anger she had.

Ricki heard metal meet metal. She glanced back at Ford to see that he had managed to attach himself to the side of a lamppost just moments before crashing into certain death.

Ricki’s shoulders sagged in relief. The old man hadn’t completely lost his touch after all.

Her relief was short-lived. The Shapeshifter rolled away from Ford, deciding to go after a more vulnerable target. The Dipper kid had taken cover behind an overturned car, his hat poking out enough to be noticed. Shifty made a beeline towards the kid’s hiding spot.

Stan had been the closest to the kid and put himself between the kid and the massive rolling monster that would flatten him in seconds.

Unless Stan had his own impressive sci-fi weapon (and judging by Ford’s panicked screaming, that was unlikely) he was about to meet an untimely and probably gruesome death if she didn’t do something.

“Kid,” said Ricki, putting a hand on Mabel’s shoulder. “Stay behind me.”

Mabel bit her lip. “What’re you—”

Ricki gently pushed her behind. Going back to the problem at hand, Ricki pulled something out from her belt, aimed it, and fired.

The Shapeshifter, seconds away from where Stan and the kid were, began floating off the ground.

With a yelp, so did Stan. The older man latched onto the now-levitating car and grabbed the kid by the vest before he could float too far up.

The Shapeshifter writhed around, struggling to reach the ground again. “What is the _meaning_ of this?”

The moment the words left its mouth, it crashed back into the concrete. The car slammed down, its alarms blaring.

The other two had managed to stay unhurt, Stan having latched onto the car to break the small fall and catching the kid in the process.

Ricki put two fingers in her mouth and whistled. “Oi! Hey, ugly! I-I thought you said you were going to try and crush me? What, d-did you Daddy issues make you lose your nerve?”

That did it. It reeled around to her, curled into a ball, and made a beeline for her.

Mabel cowered behind Ricki, small hands clutching the back of the old woman’s lab coat.

The shapeshifter gained speed, and closed the space between them in seconds, only to hit Ricki’s forcefield straight on. Unstoppable force, meet immovable object, bitch.

“Whoa,” said Mabel.

It staggered back, twisting into its original form. She had to give credit where it was due. Despite clearly being disoriented, it growled, lunging towards the shield only to meet the same result as last time.

Ricki checked her watch, saw the time, and looked up at her opponent. “I-I’m in a decent mood today, s-so I’m going to offer you a deal. If you give up, I can send you to a nice, uninhabited planet where you can, I don’t know, think about your life choices. O-or get a therapist, th-they have those in space.”

The shapeshifter snarled. “Do I look like a fool to you?”

“Y-you said it, not me.” She took out her portal gun and began putting in some coordinates.

It stiffened. “That device…” It hesitated, eyes narrowing. “And if I decline your ridiculous request?”

“Th-that’s not a request, buddy, it’s a suggestion. It’s get in the portal and piss off, or deal with the other option, a-and I have a feeling you’re _not_ gonna like the _other_ one.”

“So he was right about you,” it said. “No matter.” It’s small centipede-like legs stretched into thin, scythe-like appendages. Its body shrunk into a smaller torso and head.

Whatever it was going to do was cut off by the distinct sound of cracking ice. The shapeshifter howled, twisting its form as far away from the ice that encased its feet, when Ford delivered the final shot, freezing it completely.

Ricki waited a moment before putting the shield down. The second she did, Mabel ran over to Dipper, jumping towards him and engulfing him in a crushing hug.

“Nice shot, Pines,” said Ricki, tucking her antigravity ray gun away. “Almost thought you lost your edge.”

He grinned. “Well, I haven’t just been sitting around twiddling my thumbs these past few years, you know.”

“Oh my gosh, Dip-Dop! Are you okay?” said Mabel, pulling her brother into a crushing hug.

Dipper nodded, although he was shaking. “I’m not the one you should be worried about, Grunkle Stan almost got flattened!”

Stan huffed, folding his arms over his chest. “Yeah right. It takes more than an overgrown centipede to take down your Grunkle Stan.”

“Dipper is absolutely correct,” Ford went over to his twin. “That was incredibly reckless, Stanley!”

“Oi, it was gonna hurt the kid, what else was I suppose’ta do?”

“Take Dipper and run, not throw yourself in front of it!”

“Yeah, Grunkle Stan,” said Mable. “If it weren’t for Grunkle’s Ford’s, um—”

Ricki cleared her throat. “I’d prefer my name kid, i-if you don’t mind.”

“I’m not _kid_ , I’m Mabel!”

“Right. Sorry, uh, Mabel.”

“But yeah, if it weren’t for Ricki and her mega-cool future gun you’d have gotten super hurt!”

“Actually, I wanted to ask…” Dipper made his way to Ricki, the caution from earlier replaced with barely contained bright-eyed excitement. He took in a deep breath. “What is your shield made of? Did you invent those things yourself? How do you power it? Is it from your watch? Does your watch have a power source? Is your _watch_ the power source? Oh, wait, hold on, let me pull out my journal, I gotta write this all down—”

“You two are…real energetic, aren’t you?” said Ricki.

“Dipper, quit bombarding the lady with your nerd questions,” said Stan. “Your gonna scare her off, and we all know there’s no way Ford will ever have another girlfriend.”

The old woman winced. “Okay, y-you all need to stop calling me that.”

Mabel’s face fell. “Wait. You’re not Grunkle’s Ford special partner who saved his life a long time ago?”

“ _Special_ is a bit of a stretch—”

“So what are you two then?”

The girl was relentless. Ricki couldn’t believe she was sweating, but here she was, struggling to explain herself to a teenager.

“It’s c-complicated. Adult stuff.”

“That’s just something adults say when they know the answer to a thing but they don’t want to admit it.”

Okay, _fuck_. She had a whole new level of respect for this girl.

Ford buried his head in his hands with a groan, looking like he was ready to have the earth swallow him.

“If I give you some sort of answer, will you stop asking?” said Ricki.

“No promises!” Mabel smiled up at Ricki, the picture of innocence.

“Mabel, quit asking about that, my questions are more important!” said Dipper.

“Are not, and you can ask after me! I’m trying to help Grunkle Ford!”

“I think that’s quite enough _helping_ ,” said Ford, still red-faced, sweeping in to remove the twins from Ricki’s personal space. “We have other priorities at the moment.”

“Oh, right, the shapeshifter,” said Mabel, as if the bioweapon who had tried to kill her family moments before was just an afterthought.

“What are we going to do about it now?” Dipper glanced back at it.

“I’ll have to check the cryo-chamber to ensure this doesn’t happen again. This is my fault, I should’ve known _better_.” Ford scowled, staring at the ugly snarl the monster had kept on its expression. The eyes bore into Ford, teeming with malice.

“Ford, you can’t be serious,” said Stan. He walked up to his brother. “Just because you adopted a violent weapon as a pet—”

“Stanley, you don’t understand. I forgot to check the bunker before we left. I should’ve made sure that there was a good enough back-up power source.”

“Well, it’s fine now, right?” said Dipper, who stared at the frozen creature, grimacing.

“I have to transport it back as soon as I can,” said Ford.

“Right. How’re ya gonna do that when ya froze it right in the middle of the street?” said Stan.

Ford opened his mouth to say something, then closed it just as quickly. “Er…”

Ricki smirked. “Y-you haven’t changed at all, huh?” She checked her watch again. “Lucky for you, I-I have some time before I gotta pop on back to my dimension, so I’ll help you move the living nightmare fuel into your apocalypse shelter.”

Ford finally set his eyes on the portal gun, an odd expression on his face. He swallowed, staring at it as if he expected it to fly out of her hand and attack him. “May I…?”

She handed it to him. “Be careful with that. Wouldn’t wanna activate a portal into the blender dimension or—or something.”

“Oh course,” he said, distracted. His hands held the portal gun as if it was both the answer to all of his prayers and the bane of his existence. And man, wasn’t that the best way to describe the damn thing. “Interdimensional travel at the palm of your hand. I knew you were telling me the truth, but…”

“Still hard to believe?” she said.

He nodded. “I still can’t believe you did it.” There was something so hurtful about the words, not because they were meant to insult or demean her. It was the regret, the bitterness that she could feel from them, the voice of a man who had way too many of them.

She could also sympathize in that department.

He gave it back to her.

Ricki shrugged. “Hey, I-I told you I’ve done it before.”

“Hold on just a minute.” Stan’s voice brought her back to the present. He stomped over to her, his jaw set and fists balled.

Her hand twitched over her belt, where her blaster hung. She reminded herself that she still had her shield, and anyway, she doubted he’d try to kill her. There was no need to pull out the literal or metaphorical big guns.

Also, she wasn’t particularly intimidated by a man who looked as if he’d get winded by running up a flight of stairs. His build was that of a boxer, all upper body strength. He probably tried to end things quickly to make up for the fact that he didn’t have the endurance for a long fight.

So when he did stand inches from her face, fire in his eyes, she didn’t waver in the slightest.

“What?” she said.

“You’re tellin’ me that you had some magic portal device thingy—”

She scoffed. “I don’t use _magic_ , it’s science.” She’d usually add that magic was just science that simple-minded people couldn’t understand, but she felt the comment would be unwelcome at best.

“Whatever,” he growled, jabbing a finger at her.

She immediately remembered C-137 doing the same thing a few months ago. She frowned, fighting the stronger urge to point a gun at him.

“You could’ve brought my brother home whenever you two had met—”

“Stanley, it’s not what you think—” said Ford, stepping over to pull his brother away from Ricki’s personal space.

Stan shrugged him off. “Can, it Poindexter! I don’t care if she's your space girlfriend or whatever he heck she is to you. This broad—”

“Classy,” she said. 

“—let you stay trapped when she had a way home in her pocket!”

“If you’re done.” Ricki sighed. “I-I’m guessing Ford didn’t get around to the part where he told you we were stranded on a planet together because my portal gun broke and I had no way to repair it. I was also, y’know, k-kinda busy saving your brother’s life.”

Stan’s expression went from anger to sheepish in a matter of seconds. “Oh.”

She scoffed. “If I had known he was still alive, I would’ve gone back for him.”

Stan took in her expression, brows furrowed. He finally took a few steps back, softening. “Well, ya don’t seem like you’re lyin’.”

“Obviously,” she said. She glanced at her watch. “Look, as much as I’d love to further indulge in your baseless accusations, I kinda have things to do.” Ricki pressed on the screen of her watch, projecting a map of the area. She hummed, ignoring the kids’ staring as she zeroed in on what she wanted to find. “Underground and everything, huh?”

“How did you…?” said Ford.

“My scanners start working the moment I land anywhere. C-come on, Ford, keep up.” With the press of a button, a portal opened up in front of them.

“Sweet Moses!” Stan held his head, slack-jawed.

“It’s so green!” said Mabel. “Just like in the show, except more wiggly.”

“Show?” asked Ricki.

“I’m…not entirely clear on the details myself,” said Ford with a shrug.

Stan frowned at it. “That thing looks like it’ll turn us into mush or somethin’.”

Ricki rolled her eyes. “It’s harmless, I-I use it all the time.”

To demonstrate, she made two smaller portals a few feet apart from each other. She stuck her hand in one. Her wrists disappeared into one of them and came out the other. She wiggled her fingers for emphasis and then drew her hand back. The portals closed right after. “See?”

Ricki didn’t wait for his reply. She went into the portal and found herself stepping into the laboratory. The entire place was as cold and empty as a tomb. Layers of dust-covered almost everything. Large tunnels covered the walls of the cave, probably made by the shapeshifter. Some other monster, a humanoid thing with a large mouth filled with large human-like teeth, stood in an intact cryo-chamber.

Behind her, she heard Ford step out, soon followed by three other pairs of feet.

“Fascinating,” said Ford, rubbing his chin, staring at the green portal as it shrunk away. “And you were able to close it voluntarily as well…”

“That is so cool! It was like we went through secret a door!” said Mabel.

“Eugh, feels creepy” said Stan, rubbing the back of his neck. He raised his eyebrows at the sight of the lab. “Although not nearly as creepy as whatever all of _this_ is.” Stan gestured towards the area. “Jeez, Poindexter, this place looks like Frankenstein’s basement."

“Well, most of this was Fiddleford’s design,” said Ford. “I admit he got a bit too enthusiastic.”

“I can’t believe you have the key to interdimensional travel that comes and goes to your will,” said Dipper. “This should be impossible! All the laws of time and space that you’re breaking…”

“Yeah, t-this is illegal in several galaxies,” said Ricki, gesturing at the device in her hand.

“That wasn’t what I meant,” said Dipper. “I-I mean, this thing should be impossible!”

“A lot of things stop being impossible when you’re me, kid.” Ricki put her hands in her pocket. “So where are we putting it? I-I’m kinda on a bit of a time crunch.”

Ford frowned. “You’re leaving?” He sounded crestfallen.

“I, uh. It’s a really important family thing. I’ll be in a lot of trouble if I don’t go.” She rubbed her good arm. But I-I can come right back. It’ll probably just be a few hours, tops. That is, y-you know, if you’re not busy or anything. I-I get if you don’t want—”

“No!” He cleared his throat, the tips of his ears turning red to hide the sudden outburst. “I mean. I’d be more than happy to catch up. Stan and the children will be with me in Gravity Falls for the remainder of the summer, so I have plenty of time.”

“Oh. Uh. Good.”

Ford cleared his throat. He gestured to a row of glass cryo-chambers. One stood out from the rest. It had obviously shattered a long time ago, glass littering the ground around it. “We just need to place Shifty in one of these. I’ll just check to make sure that we have enough backup power to keep it running even if we have another incident.”

Ricki opened a portal. A moment later, the frozen shapeshifter fell through it.

“Okay, I-I think I should have something in my pocket-pocket dimension to move it,” said Ricki as she began to rummage through the inside of her lab coat.

Ford nodded. “I’ll just check the wiring.” He walked over to what she assumed was the generator and kneeled down to work. Ricki glanced over to say something but quickly got distracted.

She’d forgotten how tight Ford wore his pants.

He has _really_ aged well.

She heard Stan clear his throat. “Seriously?”

“What? I-I’m just making sure he’s doing it right.”

“Just move the monster into the oversized jar already. It’s freakin’ me out.” Stan jerked his finger towards the empty one.

Ricki made to move it, when something beeped on her watch. “Wait.” She pressed the screen.

At the corner of her eye, something moved. When she turned towards the direction, however, nothing was there.

“What’s wrong?” Dipper peered at the device. “Why is your watch beeping?”

She didn’t answer. She stayed put, keeping her eyes on the walls. “The Shapeshifter. What was the last thing it turned into?”

“Hm?” Ford got to his feet, wiping the dust off his knees. Her stopped, brows knit together, a hand on his chin. “Now that you mention it, I couldn’t quite name it.”

“I think I’ve seen it,” she said. She clutched her blaster under her coat. “You said it hatched here, right? A-and if I’m right, that thing it turned into isn’t from this planet. It’s not from this _dimension_.”

His eyes widened. “That’s…you’re absolutely correct. I didn’t have that particular lifeform in my journal.”

“Then how does it know about it? Those things need to have a reference in order t-to shapeshift.”

A chill went up her spine. She felt like a fly trapped on a web, knowing the spider would crawl up at any moment.

“Something’s coming.” She cocked her gun. “What else do you have down here?”

Ford took out his own weapon. “There shouldn’t be anything else. It’s not possible, I have sensors that would’ve detected any intruders.”

Stan stiffened next to them. “What if it’s somethin’ that doesn’t have a body?”

“What are you on about?” Ricki gripped her gun tighter.

“Like a ghost?” asked Mabel.

“Down here? That doesn’t make any sense,” said Dipper. “Nobody’s died here.”

The older twins exchanged glances. They both seemed to arrive at some sort of conclusion because Ford began positioning himself in front of the kids while Stan took out his brass knuckles.

“Ricki,” Ford’s voice was tight. “I need you to get everyone out of here. _Now_.”

She was about to ask why when she heard a single, loud crack coming from nearby.

It was her only warning.

“ _Get away from it!_ ”

Ford darted towards Ricki. Next thing she knew he pushed her away from the frozen shapeshifter, the two of them tumbling to the ground a few feet away. Something swiped at them. She heard the fabric on Ford’s sweater tear.

She propped herself on an elbow, watching as the ice broke into pieces.

That was when the laughing started. High-pitched, unhinged, inhuman, and definitely _not_ the same voice Shifty had used before. It felt like the sound came from everywhere around them as opposed to coming from a single source, as if it wasn’t so much coming from anyone’s vocal cords as it was being projected into her mind.

Then it clicked.

_Shit._

Ford got to his feet, tense and ready to shoot at the thing that the Shapeshifter turned into.

The kids huddled behind Stan, who had gotten pale-faced.

In front of them was the most ridiculous thing she’d seen in a while, a floating bright yellow triangle in a top hat and one eye wearing a black bowtie. If she hadn’t known who it was, she probably wouldn’t have understood why everyone seemed horrified and so on edge, as if their world was falling apart before their eyes.

But she did know. She remembered the name, the way Ford would say it as if the word as if just uttering the name would summon _him_ , how haunted his eyes had been all that time they’d spent together on the run. The bounty hunters that would go after them, the close calls.

All because of the one thing in front of them, the dream demon that had hunted Ford for more than 30 years.

Bill Cipher.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm pretty sure most of y'all saw this coming, so let's all pretend it's a shocking and clever twist for drama's sake. 
> 
> (A small reminder that comments will not only add five years to my life span, but it will help me know what y'all liked to read and what you expect to happen, which I love to read about).


	4. Whiplash

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ford isn't ready for what he sees.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It was no surprise, then, when the nightmares did start to worsen. He struggled against sleep, but on the days when he’d succumb for what could have been hours or minutes, Bill’s eldritch voice would claw into his dreams, the guilt of being responsible for endangering the entire universe plaguing him. Even now, a year since it had all ended, he’d still wake up flailing in his bed, sometimes screaming until Stan would take a hold of him and calm him down.  
> And Ford had always been able to calm down, because deep down he had known that Bill was gone, that he wouldn’t have to worry about him anymore.

**A huge shout-out to[ 3HobbitsInATrenchcoat](https://archiveofourown.org/users/3HobbitsInATrenchcoat/pseuds/3HobbitsInATrenchcoat) for helping me beta! She also helped me with chapter 2, so please check out her amazing work!**

*****

Ford would always have nightmares.

It started a long time ago, back when he’d seen Shifty standing over Fiddleford while looking just like him, a replica so perfect that he honestly hadn’t been able to tell them apart until he heard his lab partners muffled screams in the closet. He probably should’ve taken it as a sign back then, that incident. He and Fiddleford should have stopped their—no his, it was all Ford’s fault they’d reached that point—experiments and messing with the portal.

But no, he’d insisted on going on, still trusting Bill until everything had crashed down around them, their lives permanently ruined by Ford’s own folly.

It was no surprise, then, when the nightmares did start to worsen. He struggled against sleep, but on the days when he’d succumb for what could have been hours or minutes, Bill’s eldritch voice would claw into his dreams, the guilt of being responsible for endangering the entire universe plaguing him. Even now, a year since it had all ended, he’d still wake up flailing in his bed, sometimes screaming until Stan would take a hold of him and calm him down.

And Ford had always been able to calm down, because deep down he had known that Bill was gone, that he wouldn’t have to worry about him anymore.

Except that he was standing in front of them. Even if it wasn’t Bill (it was one of Shifty’s tricks, it had to be) Ford still felt every muscle in his body seize up, the adrenaline pump through his veins.

“WELL, WELL, WELL. IT LOOKS LIKE I CRASHED THIS PARTY JUST IN TIME.”

“It can’t be…,” Dipper said, his voice hushed.

_Sweet Moses, the children are in danger again, because of me._

“I thought I punched ya into the next life, ya triangle jerk!” said Stan, pushing back Mabel and Dipper, who had peeked from behind him to get a look at Bill.

“Stanley, this isn’t Bill,” said Ford. “This is another one of Shifty’s tricks.”

Bill—no, Shifty, it was Shifty—laughed. “WOULDN’T YOU LIKE TO THINK THAT? WHAT’S THE MATTER SIXER, DIDN’T YA MISS ME?”

Sixer. Shifty never heard that name. Shifty wouldn’t know to use that name. 

_That...that could only mean..._

Whoever it was shifted their attention away from Ford and to Ricki. Ford had momentarily forgotten her in his panic. She was on her feet, weapon already pointed at their enemy. There was a confidence to her posture that was familiar to him, that brought him back to days of hiding and fighting their way out of capture time and time again.

It gave him a small sort of comfort to see her there again, even amidst this chaos.

“JUST WHO I WANTED TO SEE! RICKI SANCHEZ, THE SMARTEST WOMAN IN THE MULTIVERSE!”

Ricki’s mouth twisted into a frown. She didn’t falter even as Bill set his eye on her.

“Didn’t know you were a fan,” she said. “Seeing as that you’re the reason I’ve had to shake off more bounty hunters than I can count these past few years.”

Bill slid over to where Ricki was, standing inches away from her gun, unperturbed by the danger. His eye was crinkled as if he was smiling, the slit pupil unsettling in its intensity. “AW, DON’T BE THAT WAY SANCHEZ! THAT’S ALL IN THE PAST!”

“So I’m aware,” she said. She wasn’t allowing Bill’s mind games to get to her. Good. “Doesn’t mean you get to be my pal now.”

“I DON’T KNOW ABOUT THAT. I THINK WE’D BE GREAT PALS.” Bill got closer.

Ford cocked his gun and pointed it at Bill. “Stay away from her.”

Bill laughed. “JEALOUS, SIXER? AFTER ALL, YOU MAY HAVE HAD SOME SMARTS, BUT YOU DON’T HOLD A CANDLE TO HER, DO YOU?”

Ricki scoffed. “What is this, middle school? You gonna start comparing our grades? Get a life.”

“Yeah, Bill! We’re not scared of you or your big, stupid hat!” said Mabel behind Stan.

“I SEE YOU HAVEN’T LOST YOUR SPARK, SHOOTING STAR,” said Bill. He chuckled. “GOTTA ADMIT, YOU PINES ARE ALL PRETTY GUTSY, CONSIDERING THAT YOU BARELY WERE ABLE TO DEFEAT ME LAST TIME. AND NOW,” he gestured at his body, “I HAVE A BETTER MEAT SACK TO WORK WITH. I BET YOU’RE JUST DYING TO KNOW HOW I CAME BACK—”

Ricki fired a laser straight into Bill. The triangle went flying into one of the glass tubes. The barrel of her gun was smoking.

Ford stood there, shocked, as she dusted herself off and stood up. “He really likes to hear himself talk, doesn’t he?”

“It kind of makes me feel kind of dumb that we were all just going to listen, now that you mention it,” said Dipper.

Ford opened his mouth to say that he wasn’t about to let such a thing happen, but he realized that despite having his gun pointed, he’d been too paralyzed by his own emotions to move, let alone pull the trigger.

_Useless. I am absolutely useless._

Ricki began punching in something into her portal gun. “He’s not dead yet,” she said. “And this is going to get ugly.”

She pointed the gun next to the twins and Stanley. “You need to get out of here.”

“Whoa, now hang on just a second, I ain’t leavin’ Poindexter all alone—”

A portal appeared under Stan and the children, and they dropped in it and disappeared in the blink of an eye.

“He looks like he’s gonna be pissed,” she said. “But I was under the impression you wanted them out.”

She gave him a look that said she was considering doing the same to him. He opened his mouth to argue, when Ricki’s watch started to beep again. Brows furrowed, she smacked her device. “What…?”

Ford noticed Bill slowly get up. He shot at him, not wanting to lose the chance, but Bill had recovered faster than anticipated. He slid out of the way, smooth and swift as a shark gliding through the water.

“Oh no,” said Ricki, staring at her portal gun as if it was about to explode. She grasped it in her hands, covering the barrel as it began to glow. “Nononononono—”

“What’s happening?” Ford began backing away towards Ricki.

“I’m late for therapy,” she hissed.

Ford meant to say that he didn’t really think that was the most pressing matter at the moment, and he was more concerned about the issue at hand, but then a portal shot of the gun.

Two people stumbled out of the newly made portal in less than a moment’s notice. Even amidst the heat of the moment, Ford could clearly see that they were teenagers, one a kid with short brown hair and another, slightly older teen with red hair tied in a neat ponytail. They were both in semi-formal wear, and while they did seem startled by their new situation, they didn’t seem nearly as confused as two ordinary children in their situation should be.

Bill also chose that moment to lunge at them, but didn’t get very far. The sturdy blue plasma shield had stopped the demon from advancing towards them.

Ricki’s back was to the two teens, but they, on the other hand, noticed her right away.

“Ouch,” said the younger man, rubbing his arm. “Y-you didn’t have to push me in, Summer, jeez!”

The older girl huffed. “You took too long explaining stupid shit to mom. I told her we were gonna be right back.” She blinked, finally noticing Ford and the others. “What the hell, grandma? What’s going on?”

Ricki’s tone became sharp with what another person would mistake for anger but what Ford knew was something far more frantic and panicked. “What the _fuck_ do you think is going on?”

The younger of the pair took in the scene around them, eyes darting all over the chamber, taking in the scene with increasing amounts of distress. “Wh-what is that? Wh-who is he?” The kid gestured at Ford, frowning.

“That’s a bioweapon being possessed by a demon, he’s Ford Pines, and you two need to get my portal gun and get the fuck out of here _now_.”

“That’s him? I-I thought you told us he was _dead_!” said the boy.

“Yeah, that seems to be today’s running theme,” said Ricki, gritting her teeth as Bill, who had begun to tap at the force-field, began to hum. “Nobody seems to stay dead when they’re supposed to, it’s like the damn Marvel Cinematic Universe in here.”

Ford blinked. “The _what_?”

“Don’t worry about it,” she said, quickly. “The important thing is that the two of you get out right now.” She gestured towards the children, then her gun.

“What’s going on,” Ford glanced nervously at Bill. “Who are they?”

“My grandkids,” she grimaced. “Which you can meet later, because they are _leaving now_.”

The girl spoke, jumping to her feet. “Uh, like hell we are!”

“Summer,” said the boy, wincing towards Bill’s figure. “I-I don’t think this is a good moment for this.”

“No! We have to come back with Ricki, Mom isn’t going to let her come back if she doesn’t, you heard what she said!”

Ford took his eyes off Bill for the first time since the demon arrived. He turned to Ricki. “What on earth is she talking about?”

Ricki clenched her jaw, making a point not to meet his gaze. “I’ll explain later, Ford, this isn’t exactly the time.”

“You don’t have to explain anything, because we’re staying!” The girl stomped her foot for emphasis. “Just finish beating up that thing so we can go back.”

“Summer,” said Ricki. “I fucking swear if you do not grab my portal gun and get the fuck out of here, so help me god—”

“Ricki,” said Ford. “ Send them back, it’s too dangerous for them here!”

“I can’t,” she said. “I programmed it so only they can take themselves back so they wouldn’t think I’d flake on them.”

The gravity of the situation fell onto him at that moment, as did Ricki’s tense posture and body language.

Bill’s shrill laughter cut through the argument. 

Stanford whirled around towards the glowing yellow demon.

“FAMILY, AM I RIGHT?” said Bill. “ALWAYS SUCH A BURDEN. THEY’RE JUST WEIGHT TO BE DRAGGED AROUND.”

Ford remembered all the times that Bill taunted him with similar words, and the thought made it feel as if he had bile in his mouth. The immense, crushing regret he felt towards allowing himself to be lured in with such promises made his stomach twist.

“I’d cut your spiel,” said Ricki, glaring at Bill as if he was more of a persistent fly than a multi-dimensional threat. In fact, if anything, Ricki seemed infinitely less worried about Bill and more so about her grandkids.

“You may have fucked things up back in the 2nd dimension, Cipher, but I know you’re nothing but a spineless coward.”

In the long time since Ford had known Bill, he became very acquainted with the signs of Bill’s anger. It also helped that Bill, as cunning as he was, could never hide his emotions when he truly felt angry or upset. The demon had a habit of involuntarily physically altering his appearance to match his mood. Currently, he was turning the bright red of hot iron freshly taken from the heat.

He pressed down the unpleasant memory of the last time he had defied Bill. His neck ached already, a reminder of his torment (and punishment for his foolishness) and he couldn’t allow it to distract him further.

The flash of red disappeared just as quickly as it came. “SHOULD’VE KNOWN YOU HAD DONE YOUR HOMEWORK, LABCOAT. I’M IMPRESSED. IT’S A GOOD THING I MANAGED TO DRAG YOU OVER FROM THAT DIMENSION.”

Ricki frowned. “That was you.”

“OF COURSE IT WAS, DO YOU THINK ANYBODY ELSE COULD HAVE POWER LIKE THAT?” The smugness radiated off him.

“Don’t hurt yourself patting your back there, corn chip, you’re not the only thing I know that can summon wormholes.” Ricki glanced over at the kids, then back at Bill.

“You’ve been responsible for the instability,” said Ford, realizing with dread that his nephew had been correct after all. “That shouldn’t be possible, you shouldn’t have power over this realm without a physical…form.” Ford’s eyes widened. “You…how long?”

“CAN’T FIGURE IT OUT FOR YOURSELF, WISE GUY? GEEZ, FORDSY, I’M DISAPPOINTED.”

“Ford,” said Ricki. She pressed a button on her watch, the nanobots crawling over her until they formed into the suit she had worn when she arrived. “He’s getting into your head.”

“He can’t anymore, not after—”

“I mean,” she said, exasperation apparent even through her voice modifier. “He’s fucking with you. It doesn’t matter how he’s here. I-I need you to keep your shit together and watch my asshole grandkids while I beat this Freddy Krueger wannabe into the next life.” She tossed something at him.

He caught it out of reflex. The portal gun sat in his hand, the strange green liquid in the glass chamber emitting a faint glow. Ford didn’t understand who Krueger was or what he had to do with Bill, but he did understand the severity of the situation.

“H-hey,” said the high-strung voice of the boy. “W-we can hear you, y-you know!”

Bill had, since they began to talk, shifted forms again. Ford recognized the vague silhouette, and if his memory served right, this would be an aggressive fight.

“Apparently not, because you’re still fucking _here_ ,” she snapped. “Get your asses behind Ford now!”

Before he could protest, the shield that had surrounded them shrunk so that it only encased Ford and the two anxious children.

Ford banged on the shield with his free hand. “Ricki, what are you doing?! Let me out of here at once!”

“Sorry, Pines,” she said. “But I’m not risking getting you stabbed through that thick skull of yours after just getting you back.”

Bill, now in the form of Shifty’s original body, chuckled. “ARE WE GOING TO PLAY, LABCOAT? THIS’LL BE FUN!”

Ricki scoffed. “This’ll take 10 minutes, tops.” She aimed her weapon and fired on Bill.

He was a blur, easily getting out of the way of her laser. He stuck to the roof (since when had Shifty been able to do that? Had he always been capable of such feats or was this Bill?) and from there leaped down onto Ricki.

In a flash of light, Bill collided with a smaller dome of blue encasing Ricki’s arm. She raised the shield over her head, catching Bill. With a grunt, she flung him away from her.

Bill stretched his arm, attaching it to the side of the cavern, and leaped off the ground asRicki tried to shoot at him. Bill pulled himself away and took cover in one of the many tunnels Shifty had made during his time in the bunker.

With a deafening roar, Bill turned into the Gremoblin. In his new form, he had the massive amount of strength he’d displayed earlier. He dug his claws into a metal pipe nearby and ripped it from the wall. Charging at Ricki, he raised the metal and slammed it over Ricki’s shield once, twice and then thrice.

Ford saw it flicker for just the briefest moment. He clenched his hand around the portal gun. Taking one last glance at the battle in front of them, he went over to the two teenagers who were watching Ricki hold off Bill, and cleared his throat, hoping to draw their attention.

The girl looked at Ford with narrowed eyes while the boy blinked at him.

It occurred to Ford right then that he had no idea how to address them.

The boy shifted his weight in a manner similar to his great-nephew whenever the latter was nervous, and spoke. “O-oh, um, hi. You’re Ford, huh?”

He had the same stammers and speech pattern that Ricki had, along with the twitchiness that Ford always noticed about her. He hadn’t been able to talk back then, being in an awful state of mind when Ricki had met him, but he had a hunch that her mannerisms were less situational and more of a permanent thing.

“Er, yes.”

“Uh, it’s a hell of a coincidence, m-meeting you after Ricki mentioned it. Kinda well-timed.” The boy laughed nervously, glancing back at the fight as he spoke.

“It’s also like, really suspicious, if you ask me,” said the girl. She crossed her arms over her chest and assessed him the only way a teenager could, with brash confidence and more than a little condescending attitude. “How do we know you’re not a part of this?”

“Summer,” said the boy. “Come on, w-we don’t know that.”

“Well, it feels like too much of a coincidence that grandma would mention him and then she’d end up here,” she said.

Ford couldn’t argue with that logic, but he also couldn’t find it in him to want to. Ricki was fending off against Bill and the many forms he was taking, but with every strike Bill seemed to be chipping away at the shields she carried on her arm.

“I can explain what is going on later,” said Ford. “I understand that this situation must be confusing, but I require your assistance to help your grandmother.”

“Uh, wow, full of yourself much?” The girl jerked a thumb at Ricki’s direction. “Grandma Ricki is like, a total badass bounty hunter with a kickass suit that does almost anything. She doesn’t need your or anybody’s—”

She was interrupted by a loud explosion.

The teens flinched.

Ford whirled around to see that, somehow, Bill had managed to get past Ricki’s defenses and charge at the fuse box. Bill had transformed into one of the giant jellyfish-like creatures of Dimension 52, creatures with rubbery skin that managed to store electricity into their bodies and conduct it at will.

The air tasted of ozone, and the hairs on Ford’s back stood up as the memory of being clad in irons as sharp, never-ending pain course through him filled him with a fear so raw that it left him frozen in place.

A bolt so bright it burned his eyes flew at Ricki and burst with an ear-shattering boom that had the two teenagers covering their ears. Sparks bounced off their shield as Ford’s ears still rang.

“Holy shit!” screamed the boy, running over to the edge of the shield. “ _Ricki_!”

Ricki had, despite the speed of the attack, managed to stay mostly unscratched. The only thing that seemed out of place was her right arm. The armor had been torn open, but instead of exposing skin or bone, it showed some sort of mechanical arm.

Ford would’ve thought it was Ricki’s sleeve or just another layer of armor had he not been for the fact that he could see through certain parts of the machinery.

Ricki had lost an arm.

_Sweet Moses, Ricki had lost an arm!_

When had that happened? Had it been during her imprisonment? Why didn’t she mention it earlier?

“HAVE TO HAND IT TO YA, LABCOAT,” said Bill. “YOU REALLY KNOW HOW TO ENTERTAIN A GUY. I’M IMPRESSED THAT ACHING MOUND OF HUMAN FLESH CAN MOVE SO QUICKLY.”

“And I’m surprised you can still manage to keep running your mouth without getting tired of the sound of your own voice,” she said.

Bill launched a tentacle at her.

She jumped back. At the same moment, something shot up from the side of her boot, and Ford briefly recognized the gleam of blue plasma in the shape of a blade. She took the knife and slashed at the limb. Bill screamed as it flew away, somewhere out of sight.

“I’m done with your bullshit, Cipher,” growled Ricki through the strange voice in her helmet. “I was gonna play nice, but not anymore.”

The shield encasing Ford and the children disappeared. A moment later, Bill was slammed against the side of the chamber by a blue wall. He flailed around as it pressed him into it, cursing in a language probably only Ford and Ricki knew.

“Ricki, wait!” he said, running over to her.

She glanced back at him but didn’t relieve the pressure on Bill. He saw his reflection on the smooth surface of her helm stare back at himself.

“Don’t kill him, he still has possession of Shifty’s body!”

He could feel Ricki’s stare of disbelief. “Ford, that thing is _also_ trying to kill you and your family.”

“Yes, I’m aware, but this isn’t the answer!”

“A-are you fucking kidding me?” Ricki gestured at the now paralyzed Bill. “That thing is working with Cipher to end you, Pines, and you wanna choose now to ask me to grant some mercy on them?”

“I know you’re brilliant enough to be able to spare Shifty and still get rid of Bill,” he said, aware of the desperation in his voice. “Please, you don’t have to kill him.”

“Damn it, Ford! That’s the kind of crap thinking that almost got you killed, h-have you forgotten?”

A laugh escaped Bill.

“What’s so funny?” Ricki’s tone was dangerously cold.

“OH, NOTHING,” said the demon, his yellow pupils shining even in another form. “I JUST THOUGHT ABOUT HOW HILARIOUS IT IS THAT YOU AND FORDSY ARE BOTH TOO BUSY FIGHTING EACH OTHER TO NOTICE WHAT I’M ABOUT TO DO WITH YOUR GRANDKIDS!”

Ricki’s head snapped in their direction. Ford followed suit and saw, to his increasing horror, that the severed limb had not only managed to move on its own, but it was holding a weapon that Ford recognized as Fiddleford’s old memory gun.

And he was aiming it right at the two frightened teenagers.

Bill pulled the trigger.

When he reflected on this moment in the future, Ford would find himself being simultaneously impressed and horrified by the series of events that occurred and Ricki’s equally swift reaction to them.

The woman had managed to propel herself over to the pair thanks to some technology on the bottom of her boots. She shoved both of them to the ground just as the ray of light shot out of the bulb of the memory gun. It hit her straight in the middle of her helmet.

Another limb shot past Ford and slammed Ricki against the wall once, twice, then one last time as the teens screamed and Ford could only watch, unable to stop it in time.

Once the abuse was over, her body slumped against the wall, sliding down until it unceremoniously collapsed on the ground.

“ _No!_ ” Ford ran over to her, but had his ankle dragged back. He fell on the dirt ground with a grunt.

Bill had returned to Shifty’s form, and he was smiling. “OH NO YOU DON’T SIXER. I HAVEN’T GOT TO PLAY WITH YOU YET!”

Ford grit his teeth. He pulled out his weapon and aimed it at Bill. This time, he switched the settings from stun to lethal and he spared no time pulling the trigger.

Bill wailed. He let go of Ford, cursing. He pointed one claw at Ford. “DROFNATS REVO T’NSI SIHT!”

He ran away towards the exit, with Ford hot on his heels, but when he turned a corner and Ford followed, he found no sign of him. Even after frantically searching the area, he couldn’t find any trace of where he could have gone.

He had let Bill and Shifty escape.

“Fuck,” he hissed, carding his free hand through his hair. “Fuck!”

The loud sobbing of one of the teens stopped him from further indulging in some of the more obscure curses he’d learned throughout the multiverse.

 _Ricki!_ He rushed over, back where to the lab, to find the girl shaking her unresponsive grandmother.

The old woman’s armor had partially disappeared, showing her slumped head over her chest. There was blood on the back of her skull, matting her hair.

“Grandma, get up,” the girl tugged at Ricki’s arm. “Come on, this isn’t funny!”

The boy’s hand went to Ricki’s neck. “S-she’s still breathing.”

Ford kneeled over to where Ricki was. “Allow me to help,” he said as gently as he could.

The girl still regarded him cautiously but moved over to let him inspect Ricki.

He scooped her up in his arms, bringing her close to his chest. “We need to get her medical attention. The two of you must know how to use the device, yes? We need to take her to the nearest hospital, I’ll give you the coordinates—”

He stopped, watching the boy bring up the now broken gun. The glass chamber had been shattered, the barrel had broken and a lot of the wiring littered the ground.

“W-we can’t use it,” said the boy, his voice shaky. “I…we don’t know how to fix it, Ricki’s the only one who knows. Unless…?”

Ford shook his head numbly. “We never finished the prototype we were making, and Ricki did most of the building. I’m afraid I have no idea how to fix it right now.”

“What’re we gonna do?” said the girl. “How do we get out of here?”

Ford, for all his fear, knew that the poor children were terrified, and he had to take control of the situation. Luckily, it was one of the only things he felt he could reliably do. “I made this bunker with my lab assistant, I can easily get us out. From there it is a walk through the woods, but I should be able to call my brother to pick us up. Usually I’d suggest a hospital, but… I need to go somewhere I know I can trust who’s around us.”

“Where’s that?” asked the boy.

“My friend’s home. Come along… we don’t have much time.”

*

_Today has been…quite a day, to say the least._

_Thank the stars Stan and the children had already been on their way to find us. We were able to get back to the Shack and into Stanley’s car faster than I had hoped. We made it to Fiddleford’s home in record time, thanks to my brother's reckless yet efficient driving skills._

_Fiddleford, despite rightfully being quite confused when we rolled up to his house with Ricki and the rest of us, quickly moved us to a part of the mansion he had made into an infirmary. I am no medical expert by any means, but between my experience with patching myself up and his amazing technology, we were able to give Ricki the proper care. Thankfully her helmet had taken most of the damage from the fight (thank the Axolotl) but she still required stitches._

_While tending to her wounds, I quickly informed Stanley and Fiddleford of our new disastrous situation._

_Stanley was still upset at Ricki’s interference (a thing that, while I was not responsible for, am still glad that she did) but he is directing most of his bad mood at Bill. I sense he may feel partially at fault for Bill’s return. (Later I must speak with him to get that nonsense out of his head.)_

_I had feared that Fiddleford would be afraid of the fact that his past tormentors were loose, but he surprised me by placing his hand on my shoulder and saying that he was just thankful we were all safe, and he trusted that we would once again take care of them together. The children and Stan agreed wholeheartedly, putting on such brave faces despite the fear they must feel._

_Truly, I do not deserve these people, and I am blessed to have them._

_That said, I wish that same cheer would reach Ricki’s incredibly distressed grandchildren. I have found out that the boy’s name is Morty and the girl’s is Summer._

_Morty exhibits many of the nervous mannerisms of his grandmother, down to the stutters._

_Summer seemed to have inherited Ricki’s sharp tongue and sullen attitude._

_She has not taken her sight off me, even as I insisted she give us space to do the medical procedure on Ricki. It took convincing from both her younger sibling and myself to at least reach an agreement where she and Morty would watch us from a safe distance._

_I once again have to commend Fiddleford’s kindness—I was growing anxious wasting time arguing, and I’m afraid I may have only worsened things._

_At least, for the time being, we are all safe. Stan has called Soos and Melody and instructed them to remain in the Shack and its protective barrier until further notice. Dipper and Mabel have taken charge of alerting the townsfolk, and Gravity Falls is now under lock-down until we can safely apprehend_ _Shifty_ _the Shapeshifter._

 _I am sitting near Ricki’s bed, monitoring her condition._ _Has she always been so thin? Did I do the procedure correctly? It’s been so long since I’ve had to do this, and even though it was fairly simple, I can’t help but wonder how long it’ll take for her to regain consciousness. When we were younger, Ricki would spring back from harm at a frankly alarming rate, but now..._

_Ricki’s grandchildren have huddled together in the corner of the guestroom on one of the cushioned sofas the Northwests adorned their pretentious mansion with. As I write, I occasionally catch them watching, especially Summer, who has made her distrust in me blatantly obvious._

_Morty, on the other hand, is more difficult to-_

“H-hey, um. What’re you doing?”

Ford blinked up from his journal to see Morty giving him a nervous smile.

He closed the journal and set his pen on the nearby dresser. “Ah, I’m simply recording my thoughts.”

“Oh.” A pause. “Do you, like, h-have trouble remembering things?”

“No, it’s just a habit I’ve started ever since moving to Gravity Falls. I will sometimes record specimens I find along with illustrations accompanying them. I find it helps the thought process to have a point of reference for everything.

“That makes sense,” said the boy. “A-are you a scientist too?”

Ford smiled. “Yes, I mostly studied anomalies in my early adulthood before I… well, I abruptly left this dimension and was unable to return for around 30 years.”

Morty’s large eyes grew wider. “30 years? Th-that’s so long!”

“It was,” he said. There wasn’t any point in denying a simple fact. “But it wasn’t all bad. I had some extraordinary adventures, and I got to meet your grandmother.”

“Yeah, we got that,” said the harsh voice of Summer. “You and grandma hooked up or whatever, we get it.”

Ford blinked at her. “I…pardon?”

Summer glared at him. “That you and grandma hooked up.”

“I…is this some new young people terminology I’m not aware of?”

Summer was staring at him as if he’d just sprouted gills. “You cannot be, like, serious.”

“I assure you, I am quite serious,” said Ford.

Morty squirmed in his chair. He cleared his throat. “It means that you two, um, were together.”

“Ah, yes, well we were both on the run from the law at the time, so it became a beneficial partnership. Ricki was an amazing strategist—”

“I’m trying to say that I know you two fucked,” said Summer, folding her arms over her chest.

Ford coughed. His face heated up, and he found himself unable to catch his breath for a good minute.

“For fuck’s sakes, Summer,” said Morty. “Look what you did, h-he’s like, really old, he could get a heart attack or something!”

Well, that certainly was uncalled for. Ford huffed. “I am in good health, thank you very much.”

Summer sniggered. “Wow, somebody got triggered.”

“I… _what_?”

Morty sighed. “Summer, cut it out, he doesn’t get what you’re saying.”

“Tch, whatever, I can’t believe grandma is simping for somebody who is getting all flustered by a seventeen-year-old who barely passed Calculus.”

He may have not understood what the two were talking about, but he did recognize being mocked. Ugh. Teenagers. Ford tended to forget that Dipper and Mabel were the exception to their kind.

The mumbling from the bed stirred Ford out of his current train of thought.

Ricki groaned, covering her eyes from the light of the lamp overhead with her robotic hand. “Fffuccccck.”

The two teens leaped from their spot and ran over to the bed.

“Grandma, oh my gosh, are you okay?” Summer threw her arms around Ricki. “I am like, so sorry, I didn’t—I didn’t think that—” The girl started tearing up.

Ford looked away, suddenly very aware of the fact that he was intruding on an incredibly intimate family moment.

“Aw, jeez, Ricki, that was really reckless. You could’ve gotten killed for real!” said Morty. “Y-you had us worried!”

Ricki, to Ford’s shock, just stared at them. There was a blank expression in her eyes that gave Ford the same creeping sense of foreboding he got when he heard Bill’s laughter.

“Children—,” he said, realizing just what was about to occur.

Ricki squirmed out of Summer’s grasp, frowning as she gently pushed her away. 

The old woman glanced at Ford, and without missing a beat, said: “Hey, Pines, what’s with the two other kids? And what the hell happened to Cipher?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Whew! Finally able to write again! I graduated from my undergrad degree (yay!) so I'm hoping to have more time on my hands while I apply to grad school. Thank you all for you awesome comments--they make me smile even on my bad days. 
> 
> This chapter is a tad rushed since I was so excited to write and post again, so it may get some edits if I'm feeling antsy later on. EIther way, I hope y'all enjoy it!

**Author's Note:**

> My tumblr is https://introvert-no-chameleon.tumblr.com/ , where I do nothing but repost stuff and occasionally write a thing.


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